Saale-Unstrut Wine Region

Vines have been grown on the Saale and Unstrut slopes since at least 998, and the region at about fifty-one degrees north is the northernmost designated quality wine area in Europe, growing mostly dry whites including Müller-Thurgau, Weissburgunder and the local Silvaner. The slopes carry dry-stone terraces built over centuries with small round stone huts called Weinberghäuschen used for tools and shelter, and the Freyburg terraces alone hold many kilometres of wall. Rotkäppchen, founded in 1856 in Freyburg, is Germany's best-selling sparkling wine and its cellars hold a carved wooden vat of over one hundred and twenty thousand litres.

What you actually see

• The terraces - dry-stone walls and small stone huts on steep slopes.
• The northern latitude - Europe's northernmost quality wine region.
• The Rotkäppchen cellars - a giant carved vat in the sparkling wine works.
• Neuenburg castle - a fortress above Freyburg with a Romanesque chapel.

When to go

May to October; harvest festivals fall in September. Cellar tours run year-round by booking. The terraces are best walked in spring and autumn.

Honest expectations

The region is small and its wines are rarely exported. Cellar tours are commercial. Terrace paths are steep and uneven.

Nearby

Naumburg lies south; the Nebra Ark is west.