I'm am American and came here on a whim. Wonderful experience with Hans Josef, the third generation…read morewinemaker. The tastings are by appointment, but there is a wine garden that opens at 5 during the week. We showed up not knowing the hours, and Hans came up to our car and asked if we needed help. Next thing we know he's opening up his tasting room. Excellent Riesling and Pinot noir wines. The place is right on Rhein and has a relaxing garden atmosphere.

I had my very first German holiday Goose dinner with red cabbage here. It's quant and wonderfully…read moreold...especially to us Americans. Over 400 years in the same wine family. The dry Riesling is excellent, food was great and overall the experience was wonderful.

Winery restaurant in Eltville, slightly disappointing. Beautiful ambience though…read more Stopped in for a meal after visiting the weingut. My impression is that the family running the winery decided to open a restaurant in some underused space but it just seems like the commitment is not there on the food side. Ambience: Beautifully repurposed space in old building. They def made an effort on the design element. Service: Tended to disappear. Food: showed potential but just didn't nail it. I had a blutwurst and leberwurst dish. The meats were spot on and delicious. The apple compote.....I'm just not sure what they were doing there (and I LOVE good Belgian blutwurst/apple dishes). It also just didn't work with fried potatoes. The lady had pork tenderloin which was on the dry side. Wines were fine. With a bit more commitment to food and service this place could easily gain stars.

Forget restaurant, best wines? To the cellar!read more

This is one of my favorite restaurants in Mainz. The food is wonderful and the wine is delicious…read more(and not too expensive). Totally recommend!

Ok- so - when in Mainz I wanted to get a "wine-based" restaurant in Germany - I googled wine…read moretasting restaurants -and this restaurant showed up. Well I went and it failed in almost every way. Where do I start.... Walked in and the seats were all booked out. I have NO problem with this.... But they led us to one table that was for diners who did not have reservations. Ok - it was inside, it was hot, but shame on me for not pre-booking.... That is on me! So - thinking we were going to get some good wine advice- after all - it was listed as a wine tasting place.. we picked some food items - and asked for advice... well - no real advice at all...actually nothing. Ordered some food. It came out with the wine that was arbitrarily selected. Ate it, drank it. Whatever.... Then the other server came over.... Asked what we else wee would like.... She pretty much said - I don't drink so I don't know - don't ask me. On this I am thinking - why the hell should she ever serve in a Weinstube. She took an order - and what do you know - NOTHING! Nothing ever came - nothing ever said.... Nothing. So crappy wine advice.... The second server never showed up and clearly did not give a damn about service. After 30 minutes of waiting for the dessert we ordered not showing- we threw in the towel. SO - WOULD NOT RECOMMEND

When in Rome .... You know the rest…read more When visiting the Region of Rheingau, a region on the middle Rhine river best known for home to countless American military installations and Europe's second largest airport, one can not miss out on visiting the numerous wineries as the Rheingau is also known for the best Riesling wines in the world. The Ernst Rußler Weingut is a bit off the beaten path in a narrow valley, just a 15min drive from the Rhein at Eltville. But the time spent is rewarded richly! Sitting on the patio catching the rays of a gleaming late afternoon June sun, I. Ranches out and tried the Rosé wines. Particularly the Rosenmuskateller which the vintner is experimenting with was sensational: it is a level of refinement to Rosé what Gewürztraminer is to the white wines. With this climate change thing well under way we should not be surprised to see great Rosé and eventually decent Reds coming out of the Rheingau. Hey, the world is going to hell, but we surely have great wine on the way there!