Luxembourg and Germany join forces to celebrate cider at the preview Cider Gourmet lunch on 31 January. L to R: Michael Stöckl (Cider World), Luxembourg chef Léa Linster, Andreas Krolik (Restaurant Lafleur), Adie Kaye (Ramborn) Ramborn

Luxembourg and Germany join forces to celebrate cider at the preview Cider Gourmet lunch on 31 January. L to R: Michael Stöckl (Cider World), Luxembourg chef Léa Linster, Andreas Krolik (Restaurant Lafleur), Adie Kaye (Ramborn) Ramborn

During the event, over 90 exhibitors from around 20 countries will be at the Palmengarten expo site presenting ciders, stone fruit brandies, and similar products.

According to Michael Stöckl, in charge of the Cider World fair, Luxembourg will have a main central stand at the fair. Mullerthal region products and tourism will be the main focus. 

“There is an old tradition of cider Viez around the Moselle and Saar rivers, and you have to rescue these old orchards since some of the fruit you cannot consume, but you can make products from them,” Stöckl says. 

As he explains, many of the old apple varieties are very small in size and “you can’t find these old varieties in the supermarkets, you can only go directly to sellers to buy these varieties.”

This was part of the discussion when Stöckl met representatives from Ramborn, Luxembourg’s award-winning cider maker, during the fair’s 2018 edition. Ramborn has built its business on producing cider from these old apple varieties--from meadow orchards in both Luxembourg and Germany--which otherwise would fall to the ground and go unused. 

Cider Gourmet, travel packages

In order to best showcase Luxembourg’s ciders and brandies, a number of events are being planned. 

On the evening of Saturday, 30 March, Cider Gourmet takes place at the 2-Michelin starred restaurant, Lafleur, where chef Andreas Krolik and Luxembourg’s own Bocuse d’Or gold-medalist Léa Linster team up to present a six-course menu paired with a range of ciders and brandies from Luxembourg, Sweden, the UK, Spain and more. Renowned ciderologist Gabe Cook will be present to provide insights during the dinner.

Ramborn founder Carlo Hein has called the event a “chance to celebrate the world’s best cider makers in a setting that gives them their true value”. Tickets, despite the €198-per-person price tag, are selling fast, bookable online. 

Mullerthal products and tourism will be the highlight of the event. Photo: Roman Schönfeld/LFT (Archives) 

A range of travel packages are also being offered by Sales Lentz. One is a day trip on Sunday, 31 March, to Frankfurt from Luxembourg, leaving at 7:30am and returning to the grand duchy around 8:30pm.

Other packages are built around a three-day visit (29-31 March), including a stay at the Hilton Garden Inn City, or a one-day tour in the Mullerthal region on 21 September.