Our Top Wine Bar Tips for Mannheim

Wherever wine growing takes place, you'll always find wine taverns too. In Germany, these are mainly found in the south-western part of the country. This is down to the prevailing climatic conditions.

11 of the 13 German wine regions lie in Baden-Württemberg, Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate. As wine plays such a special role in this region, there are quite a few wine taverns there. Their wines are enjoyed not just across the rest of Germany but around the world too.

With their rustic charm, wine taverns invite you to linger and indulge. They radiate a distinctive character that makes each one unique. No matter how small the village, if it lies in a wine-growing area, you'll find a wine tavern there too.

The Weinstube

But what exactly do you do at a wine tavern? Well, as the first half of the word suggests, wine plays a huge role. And what you do in a ‘Stube’ (parlour) we can probably all guess - ‘step into the parlour’ is a familiar phrase to us all. A wine tavern is the perfect meeting place for socialising, drinking and eating together.

Wine taverns are often housed in centuries-old half-timbered buildings, many of which are listed. In rustic vaulted cellars, regional fare meets cosy get-togethers amid an atmospheric setting.

That said, it's worth remembering that, logically, not every wine tavern in the country can be located in a wine region. Where this is the case, a selection of wines from the wine-growing areas is bought in and served. A couple of approaches are common here:

Either wines are sourced from the nearest wine-growing area, or - the second option - wines are chosen from several of the 13 wine regions.

Particularly with this geographical selection, you'll often find wines from abroad on the wine list too - from overseas countries such as Argentina, Australia, the USA or South Africa, but also from long-established wine countries such as Italy, France or Spain.

What's on offer in Mannheim

Given the close ties between the taverns and their respective producers, serving regional wines is naturally part of the concept! Space in a wine tavern is often limited, which is why the wines on the list are carefully chosen. Nevertheless, it's common for taverns to also serve wines from other producers. This helps introduce more visitors to a particular wine, who might then take a case or two home with them.

Guest wines are usually listed on their own separate page on the menu.

The food on offer at wine taverns tends to be fairly limited - for legal reasons. Generally, only dishes that require little preparation may be served alongside wine. At Keller's Weinrestaurant http://www.kellers-weinrestaurant.de/ this is the case.

Onion cake (Zwiebelkuchen) and tarte flambée (Flammkuchen) are regional classics in the south-west of Rhineland-Palatinate, close to France, and in Hesse, mainly during the grape harvest season alongside the new wine, also known as Federweißer.

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

In Franconia, more precisely along the Main, "angemachter Camembert", "Kochkäse" or "blaue Zipfel" feature on the menu.

Baguette with Griebenschmalz (crackling dripping) is served in the "Saxony" wine-growing region, where it's known as Fettbemmchen.

Generally, you'll also usually find sausage salad with bread, bacon-wrapped dates, feta and mixed or Mediterranean platters. The Winzerplatte, a cold cuts and cheese platter, is also universally popular in wine taverns.

Wine villages and surroundings

The villages in the wine regions have been shaped by the cultivation of the surrounding vineyards for many centuries. The village centres, with their charming little lanes, invite you to linger and delight visitors with their lovingly maintained half-timbered buildings.

Entire village centres are often listed as heritage sites - as, of course, are individual buildings. But amid the splendour of the wine villages, you shouldn't overlook the surrounding countryside.

Hiking trails, sprawling field paths and vineyard terraces can be both challenging and romantic at once. Depending on the region, castles, castle ruins and palaces often line the way.

From many of these you can look down on the landscape below - a sea of vines, and often forest too: in autumn, you'll see a mosaic of magnificent colours, from deep red to rich yellows and oranges, while in summer, lush green covers everything.

Germany's wine regions

As already mentioned, most wine-growing areas lie in the south-west of Germany. Apart from the Saale-Unstrut and Saxony wine regions, all of them are located in either Baden-Württemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate or Hesse. Why is each region so distinctive? Where can you find the best red or white wine? And what makes the Goldriesling, for example, so special? Here's an overview:

Rheinhessen, at 26,000 hectares, is Germany's largest wine-growing region. This makes up a good quarter of the total 100,000-hectare area.

The mild climate and varied soils provide excellent conditions for white wines. Rheinhessen is home to the world's largest growing area for Silvaner.

The second-largest wine region is the Pfalz, at around 23,000 hectares. The consistently mild climate and varied soils along the German Wine Route allow both red and white wines to flourish here. Dornfelder, Riesling and Müller-Thurgau are the main varieties grown here.

Baden is the longest of all the wine regions. However, at just under 16,000 hectares, it's considerably smaller. According to an EU regulation, Baden is the warmest of all German wine regions. Blauer Spätburgunder, Grauburgunder/Ruländer and Weißburgunder are the main varieties grown here - Burgundy-style wines in general.

Württemberg is a wine-growing area of around 11,000 hectares, where the red varieties Schwarzriesling, Lemberger and Trollinger are cultivated. Schillerwein, also known as Rotling, is the speciality of this region. It's made by pressing red and white grapes together. Because of its colour, it's often mistakenly confused with a rosé wine.

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

Rheingau, Ahr, Franconia and others

The Franconia wine region covers 6,000 hectares. It's also home to the largest area given over to Riesling. 80% of Franconia's vineyard area is planted with white wine varieties. Müller-Thurgau and Silvaner are the most commonly grown here. Higher-quality Franconian wines are bottled in a rounded, flat bottle with a short neck - the Bocksbeutel is very distinctive of this region.

The Nahe wine region, at 4,000 hectares, is a dream for winemakers. You'll find around 180 different soil types here, a result of past volcanic activity. This diversity is reflected in the wines too. Every type of wine thrives in this region, whether Müller-Thurgau or Riesling, but also red wines such as Spätburgunder or Dornfelder.

The Rheingau region is predominantly known for white wines - such as Riesling. It accounts for around 80% of the wine produced in this roughly 3,000-hectare wine-growing area. This is home to Germany's largest contiguous growing area for Spätburgunder.

The Saale-Unstrut wine region is the larger of the two wine regions located in the former East German states. It's also the northernmost of all Germany's wine-growing areas. At exactly 800 hectares, it's more than half the size of Rheingau. Due to its northerly location and the weather conditions, mainly early to medium-ripening varieties are cultivated there, such as Müller-Thurgau and Silvaner. Three-quarters of the total yield consists of white wines.

Despite its comparatively modest size of 560 hectares, the Ahr wine region produces more red wine than any other region in Germany. Spätburgunder thrives magnificently here, largely thanks to the slate-rich soil.

Smaller regions

The Saxony region covers 500 hectares and is the only wine-growing area where Goldriesling is cultivated. Saxony is Germany's easternmost wine region. Besides the distinctive Goldriesling, it mainly produces Weißburgunder, Grauburgunder and Traminer.

Cultivating the Mittelrhein wine region is quite labour-intensive and costly. But since the sun shines ideally on the terraced slopes, the winemakers' efforts are well rewarded. The sun particularly benefits the Riesling, with this white wine making up around 60% of the total harvest.

Germany's smallest wine-growing region, at just 460 hectares, is the Hessische Bergstraße. Riesling plays a significant role here too, accounting for almost 50% of the yield. Red wine from this wine-growing region is also highly valued everywhere.

That concludes our information on Mannheim and the 13 German wine regions in general. We hope this blog post has helped give you an overview of wine taverns and wine-growing areas. Enjoy exploring.