Landmarks of Wine Culture

Time travel through the vineyards around Bernkastel-Kues as you discover a series of sundials high on the dark slate cliffs of the Middle Mosel. They now mark not only the time, but some of the finest vineyards in the world.

Here in the cellar of the Vereinigte Hospitien in Trier,  you can grasp the heritage of Roman times with your hands. The origins of this wine cellar, the oldest in Germany, reach back to the year 330. 

In the middle of a small Mosel wine village lies the Weingut Lubentiushof - an unusual ensemble of a modern concrete-glass wine workshop and an historical winery building from the Princes von der Leyen in 1711.

A panorama of viticulture, stretching from Medieval times until today can be seen at the open-air museum of Bad Sobernheim on the Nahe river. Founded in 1973 in the idyllic valley of the nightingale, the museum today stretches out over 35 hectares and offers a wide range of engaging activities and experiences.

Where now exceptional Riesling grapevines grow, copper ore once was mined. Until 1901, the vineyard site "Schlossböckelheimer Kupfergrube" was exactly what the name says: a copper mine. Now it's known for its liquid gold rieslings.

This hill has become famous for the mystic Hildegard von Bingen, but Disibodenberg on the Nahe river also has a long history of viticulture. Traces of vines on the southern slope indicate that the cloister vineyards have been continuously cultivated since at least the 11^th century.

One of the most famous hallmarks of the Saale-Unstrut winegrowing region are the many vineyard huts visible on the hillside vineyards and steep terraces of the riverbank. These little cottages, huts and sometimes even villas, used to serve as shelters for the laborers in the vineyards, or as cosy weekend houses or summer residences.

Once upon a time in 1856, there were two brothers who decided to found a wine store with a mutual friend ... and thus began the fantastical success story of Sektkellerei Rotkäppchen, the sparkling wine with the red cap.

In the time of Rococo, written or painted album pages that were devoted to wine or hunting were the big fashion of the time. Just outside the city walls of Naumburg, amongst the blossoms near Großjena, you can see what is possibly the most unusual album ever made.

This can truly be called the cradle of Saxon viticulture. Here, on the Hoflößnitz estate, the Saxon electors partied during the wine harvest, the Sachsenkeule (elegant club-shaped bottle) was invented and a history of 600 years of viticultural tradition can be traced.

Exquisitely Saxon – that has always been the motto on Schloss Wackerbarth in Sachsen. It stands for the way of life during the time of the castle's builder late 1700s, and continues today with the rich offering to explore all senses at this modern sparkling wine estate with a classic Baroque ambience.

The godfather of Kessler Sekt was none other than the famous brand Veuve Cliquot. In 1826, Georg Christian von Kessler returned from Champagne to found the first Sekt cellar of Germany in Esslingen on the Neckar river. He started producing Württemberg bubbles in a Champagne style.