From the owner: In der Vinothek Trautwein im Mainz-Gonsenheim biete ich neben meinem eigenen Wein und Sekt auch…read moreverschiedene Liköre und Brände aus der Region an. Leckereien rund um den Wein runden das Angebot ab. Ob für den eigenen Genuss oder zum Verschenken, hier findet jeder etwas.

Visited this winery as a wine tasting excursion while on a Viking river cruise. The guide was quite…read moreinformative as to the amazing history of the establishment as well as seeing their vast wine cellar. Tasted several extremely nice wines then had the opportunity to purchase. If you enjoy German sweet wines you will love their selections.

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.

From the owner: 125 Jahre Echtes Rheingauer Traditionsunternehmen in Walluf…read moreseit 1893 1893 gründete Weinküfermeister Jean Baptist Becker das Rheingauer Traditionsunternehmen in Walluf. Die Familie Becker führte es durch die Wirren der Zeit, meisterte das Auf und Ab zweier Weltkriege und gelangte schließlich mit Erfolg ins Heute, wo die größte Herausforderung inzwischen die Schnelllebigkeit zu sein scheint. Diesem Phänomen begegnet das Weingut mit seiner ganz eigenen, überaus erfolgreichen Strategie: Dem Wein seine Zeit lassen. Trockene und gereifte Rieslinge sind heute das Aushängeschild von J.B. Becker. Aber auch beeindruckende Spätburgunder gehören ebenso zum Portfolio wie Rieslinge mit traditionell leichter Restsüße, die auch hervorragende Speisebegleiter sind. Heute, nach 125 Jahren Tradition, in denen man immer konsequent der eigenen Überzeugung treu geblieben ist, begeistern sich darum gerade viel junge Sommeliers und Kenner der Weinszene für jene Tropfen, die oft erst nach Jahren der Reife die Keller des Weinguts verlassen und vor allem aufgrund ihrer Eigenständigkeit überzeugen. Was kaum verwundert, denn mit jedem Jahr (oder besser: Jahrzehnt) der Reife schlägt sich eine weitere bemerkenswerte Facette nieder.

I have been drinking wine from Kloster Eberbach since about 1979, and have never had a bottle that…read moredisappointed. On a visit there in 2005, I was fortunate enough to get a case of their abbey beer, which they no longer produce. It came in a wooden crate! I still have the empty bottles, which close with swing-top closures - nice! In the month of 9/11 friends were visiting Germany for a wedding, and brought home three special bottles of wine for me, from Kloster Eberbach. They even had to drive it back from Montreal to Chicago, because when their plane got back to North America, the United States was shut down for air travel! It is some really special wine, and is still in my cellar, waiting to be old enough to drink. They also have some very lovely wine glasses which are engraved with an image of the Kloster, and their name. The place is well worth a trip up from Rüdesheim, if you're traveling along the Rhine in the Rheingau region. It is right above the river, about one third of the way to Rüdesheim when coming from Wiesbaden/Mainz. There is a restaurant serving fine authentic German food, and a museum.

Years ago when my husband and I were first dating, we were at District Wine Bar in SF and I ordered…read morea glass of Baumann Riesling. That $18 glass pretty much changed my life and I've scoured the online wine auction community ever since, occasionally snagging a bottle here and there, but not having much luck. This past summer, my husband and I had to be in England for his brother's wedding. Since we never officially took an actual honeymoon, we figured we'd jet off to Germany for a week afterward on our first "real" vacation together. In all honesty, the existence of Baumann was a prime factor in that decision. So one sunny Wednesday, we jammed ourselves into our little rental SLK (ha ha, "mietwagen") and drove from our pad in Frankfurt down to Albig, finally arriving at my mecca. Good thing we got a late start, because we arrived exactly at opening time. But nobody seemed to be there....I guess picking a Wednesday for a wine tasting in the German back-country is a bit of a planning mistake. I may or may not have panicked a little bit. But Herr Baumann had noticed us pull in, so he came out to greet us. Unfortunately, my husband's German is pretty awful (he thought he'd have retained more from high school but NOPE). My shitty Italian was no help. And Herr Baumann doesn't speak a word of English. So it was a bit challenging to say the least! We were able to establish that we were interested in wine tasting however, so he escorted us into the tasting room and grabbed a couple bottles from the wine fridge. My husband made a valiant attempt to explain our mission, and Herr Baumann did an impressive job of working with it. Unfortunately it doesn't seem that they keep a library of older wines on hand (or at least not for sale to the public), so buying the Wine That Changed My Life from the source wasn't gonna happen. But Herr Baumann poured us a mind-blowing sparkling wine (Spatburgunder weissherbst), a Faberrebe, and a late-harvest Faberrebe. They were all absolutely amazing. We told him we'd like to buy a bottle of each (we'd have sprung for a couple cases if we didn't have the stupid TSA to deal with on the way home) and unbelievably, he charged us only 20 euros. TOTAL. Holy crap. On our way out, my husband somehow pieced together enough broken German to inform Herr Baumann that we'd come all the way from the U.S. specifically to find his winery. Upon learning this, he motioned for us to follow him....and we ended up getting a tour of the production area which was awesome to see. Following that, he then directed us to his beat-up old Vanagon and took us on a fun bumpy ride up into the actual vineyards. We stopped at the top of a hill where there's a little stone gazebo overlooking MILES of gorgeous vine-covered countryside. Along the way up and back, he pointed out the different sections of vineyard and which grapes are grown where (the translation of this info wasn't that difficult). Herr Baumann made a huge effort for us despite the language barrier and it was such a great experience. The grounds are beautiful and the wines here are unparalleled. We will definitely come back again someday. I bought my husband some learn-German-in-your-car CDs and goddammit we'll make it happen! In the meantime, I'm harassing all my friends in the wine industry to find a way to get this stuff on the menu....

From the owner: Wir haben uns in unserem seit 1737 bestehenden Familien Weingut auf die Flaschenwein Vermarktung…read morevon Weißwein, Rotwein und Sekten spezialisiert. Vor allem Sorten wie Weißburgunder, Riesling oder Chardonnay machen uns viel Freude. Aber auch Trend Sorten wie der Sauvignon Blanc haben bei uns einen festen Platz im Segment. Dabei bieten wir sowohl gehaltreiche trockene als auch spritzig frische feinherbe Weine an. Für jeden Geschmack ist das Richtige dabei. Bei den Rotweinen vinifizieren wir beispielsweise die Sorten Spätburgunder, Merlot oder auch St. Laurent. Für uns ist der elegant feine Rotweintyp das Ziel. Die eigene Frucht der Rotweinsorte herauszuarbeiten steht dabei im Vordergrund. Der Einsatz von Holz, bzw. Barrique ist dabei nur unterstützend und nicht vordergründig. Neben unseren Weinen bieten wir auch tolle Geschenkideen oder selbstgemachten fertig abgefüllten Glühwein (nach Rezept der Seniorchefin).