Frankfurt – Best German Winegrowing Estates around Frankfurt

Forty minutes west of Frankfurt the Rhine turns and runs east to west for a stretch, which gives the slopes on its northern bank a south-facing aspect and a microclimate that has been producing some of the world’s finest Riesling for the better part of a thousand years. The Rheingau is small, dense and easy to reach, and it is the single best day trip out of Frankfurt for clients who care what is in the glass.

The estates

The tour is built around visits to working winegrowing estates rather than around tasting rooms built for coaches. Depending on availability and your clients’ preferences, the day can take in the great monastic house whose vaulted cellars and Cistercian architecture predate the vineyards themselves, the hillside estate that gave its name to the Riesling clone planted around the world, or a smaller family property where the winemaker pours. Your guide handles the appointments, the language and the spitting etiquette, and can steer the day towards dry Riesling, towards the sweet late-harvest wines the region invented, or towards the Pinot Noir grown at the western end around Assmannshausen.

Ruedesheim and the river

Lunch is usually taken in Ruedesheim, the wine village at the mouth of the gorge, at a traditional restaurant serving regional dishes with the local Riesling. The Drosselgasse – a narrow lane of taverns and music that is either charming or too much, depending entirely on the client – runs off the main street, and there are artisan shops worth a browse. A cable car climbs to the Niederwald monument above the vineyards for the view down the valley, and an optional short cruise lets your clients see the same landscape from the water.

When to go and what else to build in

The season runs from April to late October. Blossom and the first warm days come in May; the harvest through late September and October is the most atmospheric and the busiest time in the cellars, so appointments need more lead time. Winter visits are possible but many estates limit access. Clients with more than a day should look at the five-day Legends of the Rhine tour, which continues downstream through the gorge. Frankfurt arrival and airport arrangements are covered on the Frankfurt destination page and under our airport meet and greet service. Further regional products are listed in our Frankfurt portfolio.