Back in town, cellar doors featuring restaurants can be found along main street Weinstrasse, pouring through town without a plumb line in sight. It’s possible to ping pong the half mile from nose to tail, from the bookends of young-blood vintners at historic Weingut von Winning, to glass-structured Weingut Reinhardt, innovative Weingut Reichsrat von Buhl (when its Mexican food trucks roll in during the Wine Festival, come hungry), and Kimich Winery with its secret rear garden, resident roaming turtle, and occasional flamenco strumming guitarists.
Friends and colleagues are intrigued by the quirkiness of this town, which oscillates between tumbleweed vibes and explosions of electric saxophones, with the occasional amorous couple kissing up against our lounge room window during summer festivals (the price of living mid Weinstrasse).
But whenever visiting with that L.A. Jordan reservation, there’ll be some intrigue. March is when cherry and almond trees erupt in cotton candy webs of white and pink (known as Pfälzer Mandelblüte); May is the famed Goat Festival (awarded UNESCO cultural status last year); the Ketschauer Hof hosts its International Wine and Summer garden party in July; and the progressive jazz and wine walk, Jazzwanderung, taps its way towards the forest as leaves burn gold in October. My personal favorite events blow in on winter winds: a cloaked St. Martin’s Day clip-clops on a horse along cobblestone streets that lead scores of singing, lantern-holding children and a Christmas market, the best one you’ve never heard of—until now.
There are no tour buses and you’ll rarely hear English spoken as a first language (although spoken widely), but foodies are pointing their forks this way. As Laidner says, “Around 75 percent of our visitors are German, but L.A. Jordan is the new and modern Deidesheim that’s just added an international impact to the landscape. That’s what this latest star does to an area.” Michelin just gave this town three stars, but the locals would rate it a million.
