The Jean Buscher Winery in Bechtheim celebrates the combination of art and wine

Jean and Jeanette welcome visitors on the terrace. The life-size ceramic figures were created by Klaus Schultze, a professor of ceramics and art from Lake Constance. "You can't escape art here," says Jean Michael Buscher dryly. For 33 years, they have been celebrating art in close symbiosis with wine here, so it's no wonder that the Jean Buscher Winery won the Great Wine Capital Tourism Award 2016 in the Art & Culture category.

A Walk of Art leads straight into the new wine lounge, as the Buschers call their wine bar. Rusted metal shelves line the semicircular wall of the wine lounge, displaying wine bottles alongside works of art. Round metal seals in the floor lead into the room, each displaying an emblem from one of the wine bottles on the rack next to it: wine labels made of wafer-thin, colorful metal.

One of the labels shows clowns, another "the kiss of the muse." One of the round works of art celebrates the fall of the Berlin Wall; this edition is called "L'Ouvertüre." "Look," says Buscher, opening a tiny cotton bag containing small pieces of masonry. "These pieces are from the Berlin Wall," he says proudly, "my brother-in-law personally chiseled them from the wall."

Over the course of 17 years, 17 artists from all over the world designed motifs for these special metal labels; 900 bottles of each special edition wine were produced, filled with, for example, a dry Gewürztraminer Auslese. When the metal labels became too expensive, the artists began painting the bottoms of barrique barrels; the unique pyramid now adorns the barrel cellar.

The Buscher Winery in Bechtheim—a small village in southern Rheinhessen known for its outstanding wines—owns 16 hectares of vineyards. The soil here is loam, speckled with limestone and sand. “The perfect terroir for Burgundy,” says Buscher Jr., another Jean whose middle name is Raphael. All male members of the Buscher family bear the name Jean, after the forefather who founded the winery in 1844; the middle name serves to distinguish them. They produce crystal-clear wines here, with a focus on finesse and diversity, and a special love for the yellow Muscat.

The art thing began in 1984, on the winery's 140th anniversary. That year, the basilica in Bechtheim was renovated, and church painter Hermann Gottfried fell in love with Buscher wines. His sketches and drawings for church windows were the first works of art to be exhibited in Buscher's wine cellar. "We had no idea what we were doing," recalls senior Jean Michael with a smile, "but our visitors were thrilled."

The ancient wine cellar leads deep down into the ground, with large old oak barrels lined up along the walls, the oldest dating back to 1893 and holding 2,750 liters. "I'm sitting here in the deep cellar with a barrel full of grapes," Jean Michael sings – the old drinking song has been sung here before. Soccer idol Uwe Seeler sang wine songs on one legendary night, while on other nights trumpets, Thai songs, and Gregorian chants rang out – music is always part of the art exhibitions.

One year, the guests had to sing themselves – and none other than surprise guest Gotthilf Fischer conducted the choir. In 2009, the Buscher art cellar exhibited paintings by Udo Lindenberg, with a doppelganger contributing his songs, but the metal label comes from Udo himself – it adorns the "Panik Silvaner." Other artists at the annual exhibition came from the USA, Hawaii, Israel, Poland, and Scotland.

And they always left their mark in the form of works of art at the Buscher Winery: A minimalist cross made of wire and stone comes from the Benedictines’ exhibition; the “Weinrüssler” is by artist Lisl Metten; and the eye-catcher in the new wine lounge is a large, round metal portrait of Audrey Hepburn. “With each exhibition, our inspiration to bring together the cultural treasures of wine, painting, sculpture, and music grew,” says Jean Michael: “We want people to be able to experience them—because it’s all culture.” They come together in the new wine lounge—the unique “Walk of Art” and “Walk of Wine”—right in the heart of Rheinhessen, curated by Jean and Jeanette.