Herbstweinfest Stromberg-Zabergäu Brackenheim

Württemberg Wine Tradition on German Unity Day

The Herbstweinfest Stromberg-Zabergäu is one of Württemberg's most popular one-day wine events. Every year on October 3 — German Unity Day — Weingärtner Stromberg-Zabergäu eG opens its courtyard in Brackenheim for the Herbstweinfest. The venue is the main building at Neipperger Straße 60 with its large inner courtyard, as well as the directly adjacent vineyards. Brackenheim is Germany's largest red wine-producing municipality (focusing on Trollinger, Lemberger, Schwarzriesling) and is considered the capital of Württemberg red wine culture.

New Wine and Onion Cake

The highlight is the tasting of the new wine (Federweißer) from the recently completed grape harvest, accompanied by traditional fresh onion cake — straight from the bakeries of the winegrowers' cooperative. The combination of young, still sweet-and-sparkling wine and hearty onion cake is a classic southern German autumn tradition and a firm part of the Erntedank (harvest thanksgiving) culture in Württemberg. In addition, there are snack platters with farmer's ham, blood sausage, Spätzle, and Maultaschen.

Grand Wine Tasting — Cross-section of the Range

Weingärtner Stromberg-Zabergäu eG is a producers' association with over 800 member businesses, cultivating around 750 hectares of vineyards in the Stromberg and Zabergäu regions. At the Herbstweinfest, the cooperative presents a broad cross-section of its wines: Trollinger and Schwarzriesling as classics, Lemberger and Lemberger Spätlese as premium red wines, plus Riesling, Müller-Thurgau, Kerner, and the special Württemberger Rotling. The Vinothek is open until 5 p.m. — direct purchase at festival prices is possible.

"Rother Theo" — Wagon Ride Through the Vineyards

A special attraction is the wagon ride with "Rother Theo" through the autumnal vineyards of the Stromberg. The wagon — pulled by horses or a tractor — takes visitors along the wine slopes with views of the setting autumn sun. Theo, the wagon driver, tells anecdotes from the wine year and introduces the vineyard sites. The rides start directly at the winery and each last about 45 minutes. Registration on-site.

Stromberg-Zabergäu — Württemberg Wine Homeland

The Stromberg-Zabergäu wine-growing region stretches between Heilbronn and Vaihingen an der Enz — nestled between the Stromberg-Heuchelberg Nature Park and the Heuchelberg. Brackenheim, Kleingartach, Eppingen, and Sulzfeld form the geographical core. The climate is warm and dry, the soils are Keuper, Muschelkalk, and clay. Brackenheim itself also bears the nickname "Theodor Heuss City" — the first Federal President of the Federal Republic was born here in 1884; a Theodor Heuss memorial is set up in his birthplace.