wineries near Rhine River

The German wine industry has a very different structure from North America (I'm not sure about France, though). You rarely find a large wine estate that owns both the vineyards and the wine-making facilities. Rather, most of the grapes are grown by small producers on leased public land. The majority process their grapes at a cooperative (Winzergenossenschaft) and sell the product under a town label, usually to grocery chains or restaurants. Some of these cooperatives may also operate a store to sell directly to the public. All-inclusive wineries that sell under a single label are rare... even though I lived in German wine country for several years, the only one I can think of is between Wiesbaden and Rüdesheim, and I can't even remember the name.

Look up the town of Heppenheim. It isn't on the Rhine, but it's located in the very broad Rhine valley. The town has a particularly nice little shop dedicated to all the local producers, and if memory serves me correctly, they also make some of the wine on site. Plus, Heppenheim is a lovely town.

Check this website out: http://www.alsace-wine-route.com/
You will need a car to tour the "Route de vin d'Alsace", but it you will see the most wonderful little towns along the way.
The French equivalent of a "Winzergenossenschaft" is a "Cave co-operative" both mean a winery jointly owned by the local grape growers, who turn the grapes from a number of vineyards into wine, and market it under the name of the locality.
You will find wines along both sides of the Rhine in the Rhine Gorge area (Bingen to Koblenz, including St. Goar)
Then there is a gap, until you get to Strasbourg. From Strasbourg south to the Swiss border there are vineyards on both sides of the Rhine. The left (west) bank is Alsace, the right (east) bank is known as Baden, and also has lots of vineyards.

Most Winzergenossenschaft / Cave co-operative are not tourist orientated, they are what you might call farm shops, selling to locals and visitors. You can go in, ask what they have got and they will let you taste their produce. But, please remember this is a local business. You will have an unequalled opportunity to choose good local produce, but, when you find something you like, buy a case (6 or 12 bottles, or a mixed case), and enjoy them for the rest of your trip.

I'm going to disagree with one thing posted above. There isn't a "gap" between Bingen and Strasbourg. This is actually Germany's largest wine region by far, particularly the left bank region known as "Rheinhessen" (despite the name, it is now a part of Rheinland-Pfalz). As you drive along A61 from Bingen to around Frankenthal, all you see are vineyards extending to the horizon. The German Wine Road starts in this region and runs south to Landau near the French border. Baden on the right bank is also very rich wine country. Hardly "gap" territory at all.

The Mittelrheintal wine region is the most well known abroad, probably because it's the most frequently visited, but the total output from here is miniscule compared to Rheinhessen and Baden.

A few years ago we stayed at a "Weingut" along the Mosel. This seemed like a typical operation, so I will give a detailed description.

The location was Briedel, one of the many typical villages along the Mosel River. Grapes were grown along the hillside looking over the river. Every village had a "Hollywood" type sign on the hillside with the village's brand advertised. Briedel's brand was "Briedel Herzchen", (Little Heart of Briedel, (my translation)). The neighboring town was Zell and their brand was "Zeller Schwarzekatz", (Zell's Black Cat). So every wine producer in the village would label their wine with the town brand, type (Riesling Trocken, Reisling Halbtrocken, etc), and actual producer.

Our Weingut looked like a typical house in a typical American suburban subdivision. It was was the side of a gentle slope on a half-acre lot along with all the other neighborhood houses. The ground floor contained the family garage, equipment storage, and wine making operation. Upstairs was the 2 guest rooms with ensuite bathrooms, the family living room which doubled as the breakfast room and lobby, and the kitchen. There was a wide veranda over the front part of the ground floor looking over the river with the guest room and living room access. All had patio tables and chairs for the guests and family. The back of the house had another patio reserved for the family. Upstairs was the family bedrooms and I guess another kitchen and TV room.

The family indicated that they had a certain share of the vines on the hillside which they tended and cultivated. At harvest time, the owner took the small tractor out of the garage and hooked up the farm trailer and went up to pick his grapes along with a couple of Polish farm hands, and hauled them home. He had a good size modern wine press to press his grapes. All over the neighborhood, people had their old fashioned hand screw presses as lawn ornaments along with old stills. He pumped the juice into holding tanks which turned out to be located directly beneath the family back patio. Then they were transferred to fermentation tanks after adding yeast. Finally it was wine and he bottled it with a small machine and hand pasted on the labels and packed it into boxes.

Our rooms all came with a wine list and wine glasses and cork screw, so whenever we wanted a bottle of wine, we just went to the living room/lobby and asked for a bottle. If nothing was handy in the kitchen, The land lady just told the winemaker to pause the soccer match he was watching and run downstairs and grab a bottle out of one of the packed cases. If I remember right, nothing was more than 4 EUR a bottle, and they just added it on to the bill.

The owners spoke only German, but with my pidgin German I was able to communicate with the patient land lady. The winemaker on the other hand just spoke louder if you could not understand him. They had a couple of rental bikes to use on the extensive bike trails along the river, or if you have the stamina, the hilly terrain away from the river. A great breakfast was served every morning. It was a real find, but not untypical for the region, as I understood. We ran into no other North Americans while there. Most people assumed we were Dutch when they heard our broken German. They pour in on weekends during harvest season as they seem to be able to smell a good party.

Try Eltville in the Rheingau. Lovely little town situated on the right side of the Rhein.

There are several wineries here and the neighboring Eberbach Monastery is one of the largest. Once the largest religious winery in Germany, it is still creating fine wines today and very popular in the region. Wine shop, tastings, restaurant, hotel, and lovely paths for wandering.
http://kloster-eberbach.de/en/monastery

The Koegler winery in Eltville has been producing for 5 generations. Their hotel and restaurant are special treats to go along with their generous wine tasting shop.
http://www.weingut-koegler.de/weinhotel.html

Unless you plan to purchase multiple cases of wine in Germany to bring back to the US, I think visiting a winery is meaningless. Really!

In 2008, I spent three days in the Mosel region. The first day I traveled to Bernkastel, to a restaurant right below the Doktor vineyard. I had three glasses of the local wines at lunch, all of which were outstanding. It gave me a good feeling for what the best wines in the area were like.

The next day I was in Cochem, at a winery right across from the train station, and had a personal wine tasting. He gave me two different varieties from two different ;years. I like two, the other two, not so much. But I wasn't buying cases of wine, so what did it matter? I got to sample two glasses of wine I didn't really like. OK.

So my point is, if you are buying large quantities of wine to bring back with you to the US, doing a tasting at a winery, to find out what you want to buy might be important. But if you just want to get an idea of what the local wines taste like, visit a restaurant and ask for a local wine.

Hmmm Now I am rethinking the winery idea. We wouldn't be purchasing much wine so it would just be for fun, so it might not be worth it. Unless we happen to be close to one and stop in! Thanks for your advice!

Wineries and tastings are interesting to do because you can learn something about what you are drinking. One does NOT need to buy a case of wine to make it worthwhile. They may tell you about the different grapes, harvesting, the soil, why one grape or year will taste different then the others. Certainly not a waste of time. If you want to go to one, then do it. If you don't, you will always wonder if you missed something you had really wanted to do. You've traveled a long way, so do something memorable.

Really recommend the Eberbach Monastery near Eltville. They have all their ancient wine presses, cellars with big vats of wine, and lots of different gift items that are made from wine or to be used with wine. Plus, the place is impressive 1000 year old architecture. Might even blow your socks away.