Saturdays in Mainz are wine time. Young and old gather in droves at the market square, at the foot of the 1000-year-old cathedral. They chat, they eat, but above all, they indulge in the wines of Mainz, the wine capital. Twenty years ago, a small group of Mainz winegrowers invented the market breakfast, which has now become a major event, a cult meeting place, an attraction for the entire region, and has found imitators throughout Germany.

"We were pioneers and ahead of our time," says Sigrid Lemb-Becker, "we created a unique piece of wine lifestyle." Lemb-Becker is the chairwoman of the Mainz winegrowers; twenty years ago, two winegrowers from their ranks invented the market breakfast. Originally, it was a breakfast meeting place for visitors to the market, where bakers and butchers offered food for sale. The beginnings were simple: meat sausage, pea soup, and beer were the main ingredients.

In 1999, the Mainz winegrowers took over the organization of the market breakfast and decided to change the setting a little: from then on, Mainz wine was also served here. "In the beginning, it was a difficult battle against the beer stand," recalls winemaker Hans Willi Fleischer with a smile, "but the breakthrough came very quickly." Today, the market breakfast attracts several hundred or even several thousand visitors every Saturday who want to enjoy a glass or two in the shadow of the cathedral.

"The people here are open, cheerful, and hospitable," says Lemb-Becker, "they are happy and humorous." The traditional Mainz dish "Weck, Worscht und Woi" became world-famous thanks to the Mainz Carnival, Mainz being the third-largest carnival stronghold in Germany. Every year, 500,000 visitors come to Mainz for the big Rose Monday parade – at the head of the parade, "Weck, Worscht und Woi" is proudly carried as the city's trademark.

It was the Romans who brought winemaking on a large scale to the Rhine. Around 13 BC, they built a fort right here on the Rhine, opposite the mouth of the Main. Since then, wine has played an important role in Mainz's history, with vineyards stretching along the slopes to the surrounding Rhine-Hesse region – the small Prominentenweinberg vineyard at the foot of the citadel is a reminder of this ancient tradition, as are the many wine bars in the city center.

A vineyard in Mainz-Bretzenheim is the oldest recorded vineyard location. Today, there are 26 wineries listed in Mainz, all in the south of the city. In 2004, they founded the "Mainzer Winzer" association, which marked the beginning of modern wine tourism in Mainz. The "Best of Mainz Wine" tastings brought the wines to the city and opened eyes and mouths to the new leaps in quality of the products.

In 2008, Mainz became a member of the global network of Great Wine Capitals, and this title greatly strengthened its ties to the surrounding wine region of Rheinhessen – wine became omnipresent in Mainz. A visible symbol of this is the wine stand on the banks of the Rhine, at the foot of Mainz City Hall, where Mainz winegrowers take turns serving their wines on weekends – the new wine hotspot. "Tourists love it too," says Lemb-Becker, "they are amazed at how much wine there is in the city."

Of course, there are wine festivals throughout the year, the Mainz Wine Market, and even a wine marathon: three years ago, Mainz winegrowers invented a wine tour through the city center along the most important sights. And, of course, wine is also a must at the soccer stadium: wine is naturally served at home games of the Bundesliga soccer club Mainz 05. No wonder that the 2019 Best of Wine Tourism Award for innovative wine tourism went to Mainz's winegrowers.