Head over heels for 'Made in Luxembourg' this Christmas

Growing up, I would spend one or two weeks each summer with my grandparents in a small rural town in the middle of Florida. They lived on a rather large plot of land that was located about 30 minutes from the nearest grocery store, and only rarely did they have everything you needed. My grandfather is a Korean War Veteran who served the United States bravely in the Air Force. He is a bit old fashioned at times, but one thing I remember very distinctly from those summers was checking the tags of anything we would wear or purchase. “Look at the label,” he would say, “And tell me where it came from.”

“Made in China,” I would read, more often than not. He would always huff and remark that we should try to avoid buying those things. Not because he had anything against China per se, but because we should “be proud of your country and support those within your country that work hard to make a living.” That was something that has always stuck with me, and after that lesson, I would often find myself looking for any label that said “Made in the USA.”

Now, living in Luxembourg, I feel that same sentiment, but for my newfound home. Any time I see that crown with the words “Made in Luxembourg,” I get a swelling of pride for those in this incredibly small country that worked so hard to produce an item or product here. Each bottle of wine, pair of leggings, bag of cookies or candle I see with that logo on it makes me so proud to have found this small but mighty home.

I stumbled into a shop in the city center a few days ago called “Wanderscheid.” Everything that they sell in this shop is all made in Luxembourg, and they specialize in gifts and gift baskets. The entire bottom floor of the shop is a full wine cellar, containing only wines grown and produced in Luxembourg. The most beautiful Luxembourg shaped cheese boards, delightful candles, and delicious chocolates line the walls. I absolutely could not resist the “Moien” Christmas Ornaments, and might just gift one to every family member I have.

I think the most surprising thing that Luxembourg has to offer is the wines, though, at least to me. Not only are there over 450 winegrowers and producers in the country, which is astonishing, but they make some really delicious wines as well. To be quite frank, I had not expected to enjoy the wines here, as I am an avid California wine lover myself — but it didn’t take long for me to find some easy favorites. When my parents visited in May, we went to Pas Sage (my favorite little wine bar in the city center) for some local wines and a cheese board. We thoroughly enjoyed two wines in particular, Domaine Henri Ruppert’s Pinot Blanc, and Aly Duhr’s Barrique. We cleared our schedule the next day and headed out to the Moselle region for some wine tastings. A few cases of wine showed up the very next week.

As I continue to learn about all the things that Luxembourg has to offer, I remain awed by all there is here to discover. There are a multitude of people who were born and raised in this country that have continued to teach me not only the right way to pronounce things (I promise, I am really working on it!) but the best of which this incredible country can produce.