Wine Bars in Munich

Wherever wine is grown, you'll also find wine bars. In Germany, these are mainly found in the south-western part of the country. The climatic conditions play an important role here.

11 of the 13 German wine regions are located in Hesse, Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate. Wine plays a significant role in these regions, which is why you'll find quite a few wine bars there. In the rest of Germany and the world, German wine is enjoyed with pleasure.

Wine bars invite you to sit back, relax and enjoy yourself thanks to their rustic charm. Their charm is truly distinctive. The great thing about them is that if you're travelling through one of the wine-growing regions, you'll find a wine bar in almost every village - no matter how small.

The wine bar

What exactly is a wine bar? As the name suggests, wine plays a very important role. And what you do in a ‘Stube’ (parlour), we can all imagine - ‘Come into the good parlour’ is a familiar saying to us all. A wine bar is a place for socialising, drinking and eating together.

Wine bars are often housed in old half-timbered buildings, many of which are listed. In rustic vaulted cellars, regional home cooking meets cosy togetherness amid rustic charm.

You can experience this distinctive atmosphere in Munich at the wine tavern Ratskeller.

Nevertheless, it should be clear that, logically, not every wine bar in the country can be located in a wine region. When this is the case, a selection of wines from the wine-growing regions is purchased and served. Different approaches can be taken here:

Either all the wines on offer come from the nearest wine region, or - the second option - wines are selected from more than one of the 13 wine-growing areas.

Particularly in this selection dictated by geography, you'll often find wines from abroad on the menu - for example, from newer wine countries such as Australia, Argentina, South Africa or the USA, but also from European countries such as France, Italy or Spain.

What's on offer in Munich

Serving local wines is, of course, a matter of honour, especially since most wine bars work together with winegrowers. Naturally, all the wines on the menu are carefully selected, as space in the bar is often limited. Nevertheless, it's common practice to serve one's own wine in other bars too. This raises awareness of the wine, and holidaymakers are likely to take a case or two home with them.

Guest wines are often listed on a separate page of the menu.

The range of dishes on offer in wine bars is fairly limited - for legal reasons. Generally, only dishes that don't require much preparation may be served alongside wine. This is the case, for example, at Weinhaus Schneider.

In regions of the French-influenced south-west of Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse, Flammkuchen (tarte flambée) and Zwiebelkuchen (onion tart) are regional classics on the menu, though only during the grape harvest season - paired with Federweißer, the young wine.

In all the wine bars in the Rheingau and Rheinhessen regions in the north-east of Rhineland-Palatinate, you'll find a soft cheese preparation called Spundekäs, often eaten with hearty bread.

In Franconia, more specifically along the Main, ‘Kochkäse’, ‘blaue Zipfel’ or ‘angemachte Camembert’ feature on the menu.

The baguette with Griebenschmalz (crackling dripping), known as ‘Fettbemmchen’, is served in the ‘Sachsen’ wine-growing region.

Generally, you'll also usually find sausage salad with bread, bacon-wrapped dates, feta cheese, and mixed or Mediterranean platters. In wine bars, the ‘Winzerplatte’ - a platter of sausage and cheese - is also very popular.

Wine for Munich

The communities in and around the wine regions have been shaped - in some cases for several centuries - by the cultivation of the surrounding vineyards. The historic village centres delight with lovingly restored half-timbered buildings and romantic little lanes that invite you to linger.

Many of these have listed status for individual buildings or even for the entire village centre. Amid the splendour of the wine villages, however, you shouldn't forget the surrounding countryside.

Hiking trails, sweeping field paths and the vineyard terraces, which can be both demanding and romantic. Depending on the region, many palaces, castles and castle ruins lie along the way.

Often you can look out from them over the surrounding landscape - a sea of vines, and frequently woodland: in autumn you'll see a mosaic of glorious colours, ranging from rich yellows and oranges to dark reds, while in summer everything is lush green.

The wine-growing regions

As already mentioned, most wine-growing regions are located in the south-west of Germany. Apart from the Saale-Unstrut and Sachsen wine regions, all of them are located in Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse and/or Baden-Württemberg. But what makes the different regions so unique? Which wine-growing region produces the best red or white wine? And what makes, say, Goldriesling so special? Here's our overview:

The Rheinhessen wine-growing region is Germany's largest, covering a good 26,000 hectares. This size accounts for a good quarter of the total area (100,000 hectares).

Thanks to the mild climate and varied soils, excellent conditions prevail for white grape varieties. Rheinhessen is home to the world's largest cultivation area for Silvaner.

The Pfalz region is the second largest, covering a good 23,000 hectares. Along the German Wine Route, white and red wines thrive thanks to the consistently mild climate and varied soils. The grape varieties Müller-Thurgau, Riesling and Dornfelder are cultivated here in particular.

At just under 16,000 hectares, the Baden wine-growing region is considerably smaller, but nonetheless it is the longest, stretching 400 kilometres. According to an EU regulation on climatic characteristics, Baden is the warmest of all Germany's wine-growing regions. Grauburgunder/Ruländer, Blauer Spätburgunder and Weißburgunder are mainly cultivated here - in other words, Burgundy varieties in general.

In the 11,000-hectare Württemberg wine-growing region in particular, you'll find the red grape varieties Schwarzriesling, Lemberger and Trollinger. The speciality of this region is Schillerwein, also known as Rotling. For this, white grapes are pressed together with red grapes. Owing to its colour, this wine is often mistakenly compared to rosé.

The steepest vineyard in the world, at around 65 degrees, belongs to the Mosel wine-growing region, which covers a total of 9,000 hectares.

Franconia, Rheingau, Ahr and more

The Franconia region covers a good 6,000 hectares. It's also home to the world's largest Riesling-growing area. White wine accounts for 80% of Franconia's yield. Müller-Thurgau and Silvaner are the most commonly cultivated varieties here. The Bocksbeutel is characteristic of this region; higher-quality Franconian wines are bottled in rounded, flat bottles with short necks.

The Nahe wine-growing region, covering 4,000 hectares, is an Eldorado for winegrowers. In this region, you'll come across around 180 different soil variations, owing to past volcanic activity. You'll find this diversity reflected in the wines too. Whether it's Spätburgunder, Riesling, Müller-Thurgau or Dornfelder - all these wines thrive here.

In the Rheingau region, predominantly white wines are cultivated - such as Riesling. Riesling accounts for 80% of the wine produced in the region, which covers 3,000 hectares. This is home to Germany's largest contiguous cultivation area for Spätburgunder.

The Saale-Unstrut wine region is the larger of the two wine-growing areas located in the former East German states. At the same time, it counts as the northernmost of the German wine-growing regions. Rheingau is around 2,200 hectares larger than Saale-Unstrut. This makes the latter exactly 800 hectares in size. Due to its location in the north and the accompanying weather conditions, almost exclusively early to medium-ripening varieties are cultivated, above all Silvaner and Müller-Thurgau. White wines alone account for 75% of the total yield.

On the small area of around 560 hectares that makes up the Ahr wine-growing region, almost exclusively red wines are produced - more so than in any other wine region in Germany. The slate soil provides an advantageous basis for top-quality wines. Spätburgunder in particular thrives here.

Smaller wine-growing regions

The Sachsen wine-growing region covers 500 hectares and is the only growing area where Goldriesling is cultivated. Sachsen is Germany's easternmost wine-growing region. Otherwise, Grauburgunder and Weißburgunder are cultivated here, but above all Traminer.

Cultivation in the Mittelrhein wine-growing region is very time-consuming and costly. The sun shines optimally on the terraced slopes, which really makes the winegrowers' work worthwhile. The white wine Riesling in particular benefits from the sunshine, as it accounts for around two-thirds of the entire harvest.

The smallest of all the regions is the Hessische Bergstraße, at just 460 hectares. Here too, Riesling cultivation plays the biggest role, accounting for around 50% of the yield. The red wine from this wine-growing region is also highly valued everywhere.

That concludes our information on the 13 German wine-growing regions and Munich in general. We hope this blog post has helped give you an overview of the country's wine bars and wine regions. Enjoy exploring.