A late-August village wine festival at the Schweigener Weintor at the very southern tip of the Pfalz, with stands from Friedrich Becker, Bernhart, Juelg and other Schweigen growers including the cross-border Sonnenberg parcels in France.
Tip: Pair the festival with a walk along the Sonnenberg trail; the slope crosses the French border, and you can see the cross-border vineyard structure from the marked path.
Address: Weinstrasse, 76889 Schweigen-Rechtenbach, Germany, Pfalz
The annual coronation of the Pfaelzische Weinkoenigin held within the Deutsches Weinlesefest in Neustadt, a ceremonial October weekend that is one of the longest-running wine-monarch traditions in Germany and a fixed point on the Pfalz calendar.
Tip: Combine the coronation Saturday with the harvest parade through Neustadt; floats from every Mittelhaardt village line up along the Hauptstrasse beforehand.
The Pfalz wine industry's regional showcase in Mannheim, a ten-day June fair on the Kapuzinerplanken with around 30 grower stands pouring Pfalz Riesling, Weissburgunder and Spaetburgunder to the urban Rhine-Neckar crowd.
Tip: Mannheim's wine week is the easiest way to compare Pfalz growers without driving the Weinstrasse; pick a single Friday evening and walk the planken end to end.
A late-May wine market at the northern start of the Deutsche Weinstrasse in Bockenheim, opening the Pfalz wine festival season under the Haus der Deutschen Weinstrasse arch that marks kilometre zero of the route since 1995.
Tip: Start the Pfalz wine year at the Bockenheim arch and drive south down the Weinstrasse afterwards; the kilometre-zero stone makes the strongest opening photograph of the season.
A rotating weekend tasting stand in the Kurpark at Bad Duerkheim, run from spring to autumn by a different Pfalz grower each weekend. The Weinprobierstand is the easiest year-round way to taste Pfalz wines outside a single estate.
Tip: Check the published rota before you go; the rotating grower changes weekly, so a planned visit lines you up with a specific Mittelhaardt or Suedliche Weinstrasse estate.
Three days of cellar tastings in Wachenheim's old town in late April, with growers including Dr. Buerklin-Wolf, Karl Schaefer and J L Wolf opening private barrel cellars under the Wachtenburg ruin for guided flights and barrel samples.
Tip: Buy the all-cellar pass at the tourist office; Wachenheim's cellars are spread across the Altstadt, and the pass lets you taste at every grower in a single afternoon.
The traditional Pfalz wine-season opener, a late-March Mandelbluetenfest in Gimmeldingen under the pink almond blossom. Local growers pour estate Riesling and Weissburgunder along the Kurpfalzstrasse under flowering Mandelbaum trees.
Tip: Park in Neustadt and walk up the Mandelpfad to Gimmeldingen; the trail through the almond avenues is the festival's headline approach.
