1936 On the Continent

visiting Düsseldorf. Perhaps because I am not so young as I was I miss my family, and the next time would prefer to travel with them, though it is perhaps a one-sided wish, for my son and daughter are already world travellers of quite a different kind.
    So this time no Düsseldorf, and no long Rhine journey such as I planned. Though it is very tempting to spend two or three days on the water and to see all the castles, mountains, valleys, homely towns and wine villages of the Rhine, the more distant goals, Munich, Berlin, Hamburg, and so many others call me.
    I shall not, however, give up the river trip altogether. In Cologne here I have already seen the white Rhine boats packed full with cheerful people; a greater proportion of young people on board than you would probably see in England—all laughing, singing. There is no doubt that no wine is needed in order to acquire the atmosphere of the Rhine—it is in the air.
Climate of the Rhineland
    I was fortunate in having sunny weather, the Middle Rhine district being blessed with a specially good climate so that one must really be unlucky if one gets bad rainy weather in the spring, summer or early autumn. Those who know well this blessed corner of Europe declare that the Rhine is at its best in October, when the stream of tourists, which usually overruns these peaceful places, has begun to slack off, and the wine harvest has begun, with its feasts varying in tradition and ceremony from onesmall town to another. Whilst in the summer months there is a possibility that the thousands of strangers may prevent one getting to know the people of the Rhine as they are, during the weeks of the wine harvest the Rhinelander can be seen unhindered at his work and his play.
The Wines of the Rhine and the Moselle
    We English generally are no wine connoisseurs, although even we have some idea of the Rhenish and Moselle wines. I myself, although I have often enjoyed a Rhine or Moselle wine, am more at home with whisky, sherry or port. The Germans have brought the enjoyment of their justly famous wines to a fine art. Anyone, particularly on the Rhine, who is not an inveterate teetotaller, can tell you which are the best vintages.
    There are endless differences in the wine-growing regions, not only between the districts but between vineyards in the same district. Hearing enthusiastic talk on the subject, one feels one would like to go deeper into this wine-lore. But I soon saw that for want of rudimentary knowledge I was a bad pupil, and quickly gave up further efforts. Now I content myself with the knowledge that the Rhine wine is sweeter and more fragrant than that which grows on the Moselle, that the Moselle wine is better for being kept, has a somewhat sharp, masculine character and has in particular that aroma that the Germans poetically call “bloom,” highly developed. Whether one drinks Rhine or Moselle wine, one should if possible choose a shop where the name of the owner of the vineyard is on the bottles. The so-called Crescenz wines can always be guaranteed for good quality. The Rhine wine can be distinguished from the Moselle even by the inexperienced layman, as the former is contained in greenish and the latter in brownish slender bottles. On the Rhine or the Moselle, however, one should by no means always confine oneself to the bottled wines. The so-called open wine, from the casks in the cellars of the innumerable inns and wine shops, is very agreeable; it is, of course, newer, but for a Rhine tourist that is of no great importance unless he wants to set up as a connoisseur. The new wine in the harvest months has its special devotees; in its first stage it is called “Federweisser.”
    If you want to enjoy a good German wine at its best, it must be drunk cold. In this connection we are great sinners in England. Another similar crime is to swallow the golden liquid as if it were water. It should be drunk slowly and savoured with the nose and the tongue. The true connoisseur first smells the wine and then lets it run slowly over his tongue. One of the favourite Rhine wines is “Liebfraumilch,” which fine wine was originally grown only in one vineyard, and it is well to see that one gets the genuine article.
    In England we only know the German white wines, and they are doubtless the most important. But at Assmannshausen and in other wine-growing places there is also a good red wine grown. These, however, have a very much smaller market value than the French or