Mainz Joins the Great Wine Capitals Network for Germany
The Great Wine Capitals (GWC) is an organisation that spans both the northern and southern hemispheres, the only such network to encompass the so-called Old and New World of wines.
It exists to encourage wine tourism and business exchanges between internationally-renowned wine centres such as Bordeaux, Cape Town, Florence, Mendoza, Melbourne, Oporto, Bilbao-Rioja and San Francisco-Napa Valley – and now Mainz.
The city of Mainz, a renowned German wine centre that borders the great wine river of the Rhine, has been introduced as a new member of the global GWC Network.
The announcement took place on Saturday, 17th May in Bordeaux, and followed a GWC delegation to Mainz in April 2008.
Jens Beutel, Lord Major of Mainz, commented:
I’am really enthusiastic about this decision, which means brilliant news for Mainz. Seeing our hometown advancing to be one of the very few members worldwide is a great honour and an enormous step forward in quality and international reputation for the wine growing area around Mainz and Mainz itself. This is an enormous success for this area - and I’m sure that we will proof to be the absolutely right choice. We are very proud to be the new member of the Great Wine Capitals.
Mainz is the capital of the German state Rheinland-Pfalz, the most famous wine region in Germany. It is home to the German Wine Institute, the German Wine Fund, and the Verband Deutscher Prädikats- und Qualitätsweingüter Wine Bourse, which brings together the top winemakers of Germany with the wine merchants of the world.
Six out of all thirteen wine regions for quality wine in Germany (Rheinhessen, Pfalz, Mosel, Nahe, Mittelrhein and Ahr) are located in this beautiful part of the country. The state is also the only one in Germany to have appointed a wine minister. Today, some vineyards are planted in the city itself and the old districts of the town house many crowded WeinStube (wine restaurants) where they serve regional food with local Riesling, Muller Thurgau and Spatburgunder (Pinot Noir).
Mainz will now be eligible for 2009 Best Of Wine Tourism awards that for 2008 saw over 320 properties from five continents competing for the titles. This year’s international ceremony will be held in Cape Town on November 13, 2008.
Filed under: Germany | Tagged: Germany, Great Wine Capitals, Mainz, wine, Wine tourism