Grevenmacher Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Frequently Asked Questions
At the quay, facing the vineyard slopes, with the centre a few minutes' walk away. You simply cross the road to enter the town. The vines, for their part, come right up to the first houses.
Because wine has been made here since the Romans, who planted the first vines on these south-facing limestone slopes. The riesling and pinot terraces drop toward the Moselle in rows so regular they look combed, and almost everything in town speaks of wine.
Yes, and there are two options. Bernard-Massard, founded in 1921 on the banks of the Moselle, makes by the traditional method the crémants that built the country's reputation, and the visit ends with a tasting facing the river. The Vignerons de Grevenmacher cooperative, among Luxembourg's oldest, offers the valley's characteristic grape varieties.
Riesling, pinot gris, auxerrois and elbling, the last being the elder statesman of Moselle varieties, brisk and light as the valley air. And of course crémant, the Grand Duchy's pride, made by the traditional method.
A cellar and the town are enough for an unhurried half day. If you are a good walker, the vineyard trail on the nearby heights adds half an hour of climbing between the rows and leads to a stone cross from which the Moselle unrolls its meanders. Otherwise, the Butterfly Garden or the Kulturhuef round out the day without effort.
It is a tropical greenhouse at the entrance to town where hundreds of exotic butterflies fly free among banana plants and hibiscus. It is the attraction that reconciles children with an otherwise very wine-focused call.
It is a converted former slaughterhouse housing the printing museum and the playing card museum, in memory of Jean Dieudonné, a card maker born in Grevenmacher in the 19th century. You follow the making of a card from engraving to cutting, in a well-staged display that appeals to adults as much as children.
Yes, and it is a pleasure that has become rare on river itineraries. Conversations move effortlessly between French, German and Luxembourgish. That trilingual ease sets the tone for the whole country, and French-speaking travellers are welcomed in their own language.
The euro. Credit cards work everywhere, including in the cellars and the town's shops. Luxembourg is part of the European Union and the Schengen area, and the German border runs down the middle of the Moselle with no checkpoint at all.
May to October. Autumn is the connoisseurs' choice: harvest season, when the slopes turn russet and the cellars come alive. The rest of the year the valley stays gentle, but the riverside terraces lose much of their charm.
