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Wine Cultivation and Wine Trade

Wine cultivation dates back to Mainz’s very earliest roots, the Roman colonization. Clement weather and correct soils with good drainage, made Mainz and environs a natural vineyard on both sides of the Rhine and the Main. Today both white and red grapes are cultivated with Chardonnay, pinot blanc, pinot gris,

increasingly grown in addition to traditional Riesling, Scheurebe, Huxelrebe, and red varietals as Spaetburgunder (pinot noir) Lemberger, Trollinger and Dornfelder. Newer Rheinhessen reds being cultivated include Barbera and Cabernet Sauvignon in limited quantities. With 26,000 hectar/65,000 acres under vine in 133 communities it’s only natural that Mainz is the nation’s wine capital.



Mainz’s early commercial significance as a trade and shipping center was also based to a large extent on its wine trade. The extensive loading docks and harborage Rhineside expedited shipping to Rome’s far-flung European possessions in Germany, the Low Countries and to distant Britain. Wines from the Main, Neckar, Ahr, Nahe, Mosel and upstream Rhine areas were collected and trans-shipped abroad.Today, they are placed in container ships and barges and sent downstream journeying forth to distant places. Some things never change. Those sent by air are brought to Frankfurt Airport, Europe’s largest, just minutes from Mainz, and sent all over the world.