Weinfruehling, Wine-Spring & The Weather.

The weather fairies had a plan it seems.

Our village and Gemeinde is brim full with wine enthusiasts. Great Scot that is nice to see. This Weinfrühling Südburgenland 2014 Festival is a fabulous idea and this year is, I think the third one and what a cracker.

During my mid morning dash through Eisenberg I had to ' overtake ' a few ambling wine tourists. No accidental tourists here! The organizers were rather clever and gave each participant a sling - bag with a pouch for their individual wineglass. Two birds with one stone it seems. The wine cellars know that they have had paid their ticket and the wine enthusiasts were proud as peacocks with their pouches. Good lord, one guy fastened the pouch to his belt. Clearly a veteran of this event. Careful where you sit though!

Our Gemeinde has a few villages under its belt. Villages with top winemakers and wine cellars. If you are fit, you could walk the various distances but once you have done a few tastings, the walking is not as fluid or fast....and of course the Will is not there either.

For this Weinfrühling Festival each village has 2 or more bus stops with a shuttle service. All inclusive in the price of the festival. Oh yes, the wineglass slink pouch comes in handy again. The first year of the festival, Bob and I only took note of it because all over the villages were temporary designated bus stops. When Bob first spotted one of those signs, he had to pull over because he was laughing so much.

As you know, our villages are thankfully small ( about 300 souls in each ) so when Bob spotted a sign in Höll that read:

Höll Nord

he was tickled pink all day. Heck, he still tells all our friends & family who come to visit about these bus stops. Still not sure if it was the name or the fact that such a small place ( one main road ) had compass directions on the signs!

All of last week we had picture perfect weather. Blue skies, bright sunshine and warm temperatures. Bob was wearing shorts and a T-shirt and our neighbour mowed his verge bare chested. When we slowly drove past and shot the breeze with him, he instantly sucked in his stomach.( clearly I am not over the hill yet! ). Anyway, the weather was just too divine.

Promptly at the start of our Weinfrühling Festival the clouds gathered. The blue skies turned an angry grey, the wind picked up enough to rattle windows and the temperature has got cold enough to warrant jackets and beanies. Quite yukky for the wine tourists though. Look, the wine is tasted inside the cellars etc, and the shuttle service is there, but it would have been great to showcase not only our great wines but also our wonderful nature.

On thinking this weather change over, I came to the only apt conclusion: Our weather fairies want to keep our paradise a secret from everybody.

Today is the last day and wouldn't you know it, there is a bit of blue sky waiting in the wings. It will be nice to see the wine lovers go to the vineyards and taste their way through all those delectable creations they didn't fit in yesterday.

Biggi