Katzenthal

Katzenthal is a village of about 550 people in a side valley of the Alsace wine route, 6 km west of Colmar, between Turckheim and Ammerschwihr.

It is entirely a wine village — vines run right up to the houses on three sides — and it is off the main route, which means it has almost no visitors and none of the souvenir shops of its famous neighbours.

The Wineck

Above the village stands the Château du Wineck, a thirteenth-century keep of pink sandstone, square and 22 m high, restored by a volunteer association who open the tower on Sunday afternoons in summer. Twenty minutes up through the vines, and the view runs over the Kaysersberg valley and out to the Black Forest.

The wine

Katzenthal’s grand cru is the Wineck-Schlossberg, on granite at 280–400 m, facing south and east. It is one of the warmer sites in Alsace and its Riesling and Gewurztraminer have a reputation among people who follow Alsatian wine closely — which is roughly the number of people who come here.

The village has around twenty growers for 550 residents. Most sell at the door; several are organic or biodynamic.

See the wines of Alsace.

The village

• Église Saint-Nicolas — with a fifteenth-century choir; the rest was rebuilt after the village was largely destroyed in the fighting of the Colmar Pocket in the winter of 1944–45
• The vineyard path — a marked sentier viticole loops from the village through the Wineck-Schlossberg and past the castle, about an hour
• The wine fair — the last weekend of July, small and local

Getting there

• By car — 10 minutes from Colmar, 5 from Turckheim. See parking in France.
• By train — Turckheim station, 3 km, on the Colmar–Metzeral line; walk or cycle from there through the vines.
• On foot or by bike — the vineyard paths from Turckheim, Ammerschwihr and Kaysersberg all pass through, and this is the pleasantest way to arrive.

Around

• Ammerschwihr — 2 km, rebuilt after 1945 and known for its wines
• Kaysersberg — 6 km, one of the most beautiful villages in France
• Turckheim — 3 km, with the night watchman who still does his round
• Riquewihr and Hunawihr — 10 km north
• Colmar — 6 km

When to go

May to October, and September–October for the harvest, when the valley smells of fermenting must. Katzenthal is the answer if you have done Riquewihr and Kaysersberg and want to see what an Alsatian wine village is like when nobody is looking at it.

See Alsace.

Weather in Katzenthal

Updated: 1 September 2026