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(Recommended by Bill and Suzie - BHICKOX3)

Gastehaus Eberhard
(Haus Gretal Eberhard)
Brandenburg 42
56856 Zell (Mosel)
Tel - 6542/41216 ~ Fax - 6542/961786

...Herr und Frau Eberhard welcomed us with wonderful warmth. In their zimmer, (their 2nd floor, "our" 3rd floor) we opened the windows to see the Mosel River winding before us. Large barges would quietly float their cargo past about 3 or 4 times an hour. The view of the river, village and vine-laden hills was breath taking.

And the cool breeze of fresh air gave us an exciting energy to walk through the town, street by street to see and feel its history, character, and people.

We noticed the villagers placing leaved tree branches of all types throughout the little town, and asked the occasion. The young man replied that the next day was a holiday to celebrate the patron saint of their church. He went on to explain that each church has its own patron saint. Each patron saint is celebrated with a holiday once a year. (We laughed as he proudly explained they have three churches in town…and three different holidays each year to celebrate. We all laughed when he went on to say, "We love all our holidays in Zell!") The parade the next day was a happy celebration to all the local towns people. All were dressed up, men in local official uniforms, some older men wore their medals on their chests, and all honored the Catholic church, their priest and their church.

Is it obvious we will talk to anyone as we travel? Our German language skills are marginal at best, but we try to communicate, laugh at the responses, and very often find the friendly people of Germany eager to visit, tell us of new sights, and often show us "their" little niche of this beautiful country. That's what happened next. As we returned to our zimmer, the husband was closing the large garage doors on the front. Suzie asked him, "Do you make your own wine?" Well, his eyes lit up, and with a broad smile he replied in German and broken English, "Zie haben ein minuten?" We had many minutes for what was about to become a special highlight of the trip. Herr Eberhard then walked over and opened the two smaller wooden doors on the front under his home. His Weinkeller!

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Taking us inside, he started by first showing us his hand-cranked grape presses,then his awards from years gone by, and then continued process by process through the entire small cellar to the oaken casks, full of aging wine, and to the neatly stacked, slightly dust covered bottles (no labels yet) of his own wine. Now he escorted us a few feet over to his wine tasting table and asked, "You taste der wein?" We happily said, "Yes." With flair and great pride, he then proceeded to give us tastes of his wines: we were not interested in the dry wines, so we began with his "not to sweet" then "medium sweet" and finally "sweet" wines. Suzie and I agree. To our tastes, our favorites of all wines are those in Mosel made from the Mosel grapes! You might see my delight as I kneel in the wein keller surrounded by the stacked bottles on one side and the oaken kegs on the other. My smile of happiness is very real! We did purchase a bottle of his wine to bring home and share with our family. The next morning over a wonderful breakfast, we visited with the couple. Herr Eberhard was still proudly discussing his wine making skills, and said in German, "Very good for a man of 68 years and a wife of 63." Frau Eberhard immediately scolded him saying in German, "Do not tell them my age…it's not for them to know!" and left for the kitchen. The three of us laughed, and Suzie and I commented how much the four-star travelers really miss with their room-service breakfasts.