Our Top Wine Bar Tips for Mainz

Wine bars can be found wherever there are plenty of wine-growing estates. In Germany, that means mainly regions in the south-western part of the country. This is down to the prevailing climatic conditions.

11 of the 13 German wine-growing regions lie in Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate and Baden-Württemberg. Wine plays a significant role in these regions, which is why wine bars are so plentiful there. These wines are enjoyed not just across the rest of Germany but around the world too.

Thanks to their natural character, wine bars invite you to sit back, relax and enjoy. The atmosphere they exude is truly distinctive. The great thing about them is that as soon as you're travelling through a wine-growing region, you'll find a wine bar in almost every town — no matter how small the village.

The Wine Bar

But what exactly do you do in a wine bar? Well, as the first half of the word suggests, wine plays a central role above all. And what you do in a “Stube” (parlour), we can all imagine — “Come on in” is a phrase we're all familiar with. A wine bar is the perfect meeting place for drinking, socialising and eating.

Wine bars are usually housed in old half-timbered buildings, which are often listed too. In rustic vaulted cellars, regional fare meets cosy togetherness amid a charmingly traditional atmosphere.

You can experience this distinctive atmosphere in Mainz at Weinhaus Lösch.

That said, it should be clear that not every wine bar in the country can be located in a wine region. Where this is the case, wines are bought in from wine-growing regions and served there. Two approaches tend to be followed here:

Either wines are sourced exclusively from the nearest wine region, or — the second option — the fine drops are selected from several of the 13 wine regions.

With this broader geographical selection in particular, wines from abroad — such as Italy, France or Spain, but also from overseas — often appear on the menu.

What's on Offer in Mainz

Serving local wines is, of course, a matter of honour, especially as most wine bars are linked to winegrowing businesses. Naturally, every wine on the list is chosen with care, since space in wine bars is usually limited. Nevertheless, wine bars also serve wines from elsewhere alongside their own. This draws more attention to the wine, and visitors might well take a box or two home with them.

On the wine list, guest wines are often shown on a separate page.

The food on offer in wine bars is very limited — for legal reasons. Only dishes that require little preparation may be served alongside wine. This is the case at Holztor - home style cuisine and fine wine.

In the small part of Hesse and in the French-influenced south-west of Rhineland-Palatinate, onion cake and flammkuchen — the latter only during the grape harvest, served with Federweißer, the young new wine — are among the regional classics on the menu.

A soft cheese preparation known as Spundekäs, mainly served with hearty bread, can be found in almost every wine bar in the Rheinhessen and Rheingau regions in the north-east of Rhineland-Palatinate.

“Blauer Zipfel”, “angemachter Camembert” or “Kochkäse” all feature on the menu along the Rhine.

Baguette with Griebenschmalz (pork dripping) is served in the “Sachsen” wine-growing region, where it's known as Fettbemmchen.

Generally, you'll also often find bacon-wrapped dates, feta cheese, mixed — usually Mediterranean-style — platters, or sausage salad with bread. Cold cuts and cheese platters are very common in wine bars, where they're also known as “Winzerplatten” (winegrower's platters).

Wines for Mainz

The villages in and around the wine regions have — in some cases for several centuries — been shaped by the cultivation of the surrounding vineyards. The village centres, with their charming little lanes, are perfect for a stroll and delight visitors with their lovingly restored half-timbered buildings.

Individual buildings or entire village centres are sometimes listed as heritage sites. The surroundings of these wine villages are often just as admirable.

Sweeping field paths through the vineyards and hiking trails are both romantic and challenging in equal measure. Numerous palaces, castles and castle ruins line the way.

From many of them, you can look out over the landscape below — forest and a carpet of vines: lush green in summer, and in autumn a mosaic of striking colours, from rich yellows and oranges to deep red.

The Wine-Growing Regions

As described above, most wine-growing regions lie in the south-west of Germany. Apart from Sachsen and Saale-Unstrut, all wine regions are located in Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse and/or Baden-Württemberg. But what makes each region so unique? Where does the best white or red wine come from? Why, for example, is Goldriesling so special? We have an explanation:

Germany's largest wine-growing region is Rheinhessen, covering around 26,000 hectares. Out of Germany's total wine-growing area of 100,000 hectares, this accounts for roughly a quarter.

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

With a good 23,000 hectares, the Pfalz wine region ranks second in terms of size. Along the German Wine Route, red and white wines thrive thanks to the consistently mild climate and varied soils. Riesling, Dornfelder and Müller-Thurgau are the main grape varieties grown here.

The longest of all German wine-growing regions is Baden. However, at just under 16,000 hectares, it's considerably smaller. According to an EU regulation dividing wine regions into seven zones based on climatic criteria, Baden is the warmest of all German wine-growing regions. Weißburgunder, Blauer Spätburgunder and Grauburgunder/Ruländer — in other words, Burgundy-style wines in general — are the main varieties grown here.

It's chiefly in the 11,000-hectare Württemberg wine region that you'll find the red grape varieties Lemberger, Schwarzriesling and Trollinger. In this region, Rotling, also known as Schillerwein, is the speciality. White and red grapes must be pressed together to produce this wine. Because of its colour, it's often mistaken for a rosé.

The steepest vineyard in the world has a gradient of a remarkable 65 degrees — and belongs to the Mosel wine region, which covers a total of 9,000 hectares.

Franken, Ahr, Rheingau and More

The Franken wine region covers around 6,000 hectares. This is also home to the largest Riesling-growing area. In Franken, white wine makes up the bulk of production, accounting for more than 80% of the yield. Müller-Thurgau and Silvaner are the most widely grown varieties here. Higher-quality Franken wines are bottled in flat, round-bellied bottles with a short neck — the Bocksbeutel is quite distinctive to this region.

For winegrowers, the 4,000-hectare Nahe wine region is a dream. You'll find around 180 different soil types here, a result of past volcanic activity. This diversity is also reflected in the wine. Both white wines such as Riesling or Müller-Thurgau, and red wines such as Dornfelder or Spätburgunder, thrive here.

White wines, predominantly Riesling, are grown in the Rheingau wine region. Riesling accounts for 80% of the wine produced in this 3,000-hectare region. This is home to Germany's largest contiguous wine-growing area for Spätburgunder.

The Saale-Unstrut wine region is the larger of the two wine-growing regions located in the former East Germany. It's also the northernmost of all German wine-growing regions. At exactly 800 hectares, it's considerably smaller than Rheingau. Müller-Thurgau and Silvaner are mainly grown there, as the weather conditions associated with its northern location generally only allow early- to mid-ripening grape varieties to thrive. Three-quarters of the total yield consists of wines made from light-coloured grapes.

On the small area of around 560 hectares that makes up the Ahr wine region, almost exclusively red wines are produced — more than in any other wine region in Germany. Thanks to the slate in the soil, it's an excellent starting point for top-quality wines, particularly Spätburgunder.

Smaller Wine-Growing Regions

Goldriesling: since it's only grown in Germany in the 500-hectare Sachsen region, it's truly something special. Sachsen is the easternmost wine-growing region in the country. Otherwise, Grauburgunder and Weißburgunder are grown here, but above all Traminer.

Cultivation in the Mittelrhein wine region is very labour-intensive and costly. The sun shines perfectly on the steep terraces, making the winegrowers' efforts truly worthwhile. This particularly benefits the white wine Riesling, which accounts for around two-thirds of the entire yield.

The smallest wine-growing region in Germany, at just 460 hectares, is the Hessische Bergstraße. Riesling plays an important role here too, accounting for around 50% of the yield. The small amount of red wine from this wine-growing region is also highly valued everywhere.

That concludes our information for Mainz and specifically on the 13 wine regions in Germany. We hope our blog post has helped give you an overview of the wine-growing regions. Enjoy exploring.