It was 2008 when twenty young winemakers came up with a crazy idea: an open-air wine bar on the banks of the Rhine in Mainz, as an after-work event where people could stand and enjoy their drinks. “It was pretty laid-back at first,” says Alina Engel, laughing, “but today it’s completely crazy how well it’s been received.” Ten years later, the Mainz Weinsalon is an award-winning cult event, and Alina welcomes us to her chic new wine bar at the Meyerhof Winery.

Dark purple is the dominant color in the wine bar’s dining area, while light wood creates a warm, inviting atmosphere. In 2014, Alina and her parents opened a small hotel with ten double rooms above the elegant wine bar on the outskirts of Flonheim. Here, in the heart of Rheinhessen, they embody the wine experience, and that’s exactly why the Meyerhof won the Great Wine Capitals’ 2018 Best of Tourism Award.

No wonder: Alina is an expert in wine experiences and wine culture. For a year, from 2012 to 2013, she served as the Rheinhessen Wine Princess, traveling to promote wine, opening wine festivals, and explaining Rheinhessen’s wine culture to people throughout Germany. “It’s great preparation for later life,” says Alina; she adds that the year taught her a lot about carrying herself with confidence.

"The wine experience is key," says Alina as we enjoy a fresh Riesling LaRoche in the dining room. "Every four weeks, we host 'Wine Meets Grill' in the garden," she explains, "and every Friday there is a wine tasting with tarte flambée and a cellar tour." For their wine weekends, guests are provided with a picnic backpack, or they can book an entire weekend during the grape harvest and then work in the vineyard and experience wine processing in the cellar.

Wine experience is what they breathe here in Flomborn. Every April, there is the "Trullo in Flammen" wine festival around the white, pointed cone-shaped vineyard huts that Italian quarry workers built in the vineyards around Flonheim in the 18th century – today, the Trulli Flonheim are a trademark. "Our winery was founded in 1753 and was located right in the center of town," says Alina.

The namesake, Artur Meyer, was her father's great-uncle. Bernd Hammer was a real city kid, growing up in the banking metropolis of Frankfurt – but it was at the winery in Flonheim that he discovered his love of viticulture. Hammer took over the Meyerhof and married a winemaker's daughter from Aspisheim, Alina's mother Daniela.

"I never wanted to do anything with viticulture," Alina says with a smile. As a teenager, she was more interested in business and began studying international wine management in Geisenheim. Then a worker dropped out during the grape harvest, Alina stepped in—and discovered her love for viticulture. Two weeks into the semester, she switched to viticulture and oenology, and today she runs the 12-hectare winery and hotel together with her husband Sebastian Engel and her parents.

"We are experimenting with spontaneous fermentation and are in the process of converting to organic," says Alina, "and we have worked a lot on soil typicity and location." La Roche Riesling, named after a count from the French period, grows on the same red clay soil as the famous Roter Hang in Nierstein, and the Rieslings are just as crisp and rich in aromas as those from the Rhine Valley.

"Our region today stands for quality, and the young winemakers stand for togetherness," emphasizes Alina. Her guests used to always go to the Palatinate or the Rheingau, but now they are amazed "at how modern our wine shops are and how much is going on here in terms of wine," says Alina proudly: "When you show a city dweller a vineyard, their connection to and appreciation of wine is completely different."