The harvest is over and the grape leaves are putting on a show of yellow. Everywhere there isn’t a village there are vineyards. Like Napa, Chianti or Piedmont, this makes for gorgeous landscape views.

We started out the day with a generous and delicious breakfast at Julia’s. The sun peaked out for about 5 minutes in the morning, but never returned. We headed for Schloss (castel) Johannisberg, about 10 minutes away by car.

We walked around from view spot to view spot through the rows of grape plants. Around the back of the wine-making area I spoke to one of the workers who told me they had just finished the harvest yesterday.

Off to the tasting room for 3 lovely tastes of Reisling: dry, off dry and sweet. They were truly delicious. We were told they have been making wine here for 900 years and claim to have invented sweet wine. They also have a separate opperation here, making Furst Von Metternich sparkling wines.

We drove back down the hill to the town of Geisenheim, where we did a little walk about and stopped into a bakery on the main square for a coffee and a sandwhich.

Rain was threatening the whole day and by the afternoon it began. We came back to the B&B for an afternoon rest, but didn’t go back out as the rain continued.

Dinner was at another very local spot, Hofgut Erbach, close enough to walk with our umbrellas. We drank a wonderful Furst Von Mitternich rosé sparkling wine with the homey pork dishes. This a true “mom and pop” operation with a dark and funky dining space and a small bar.

The owner gifted us with his home made, very sweet, lemon scented liquor after dinner and asked us to sign his guest book, which included kudos from Sean Connery, among other celebrities. It was a charming experience even if the food did not thrill

Still raining on our walk back. And more rain predicted for the rest of our stay.