"We've brought the Pinot Noir to our walls and floors," says Michael Werner, pointing to the dark blue color that surrounds us. The deep purple-blue does indeed reflect the color of those red grapes that grow on the hills around Ingelheim, this small town in Rheinhessen that is nicknamed the “Red Wine Town.” In the deep, dark-blue sea at our feet, vine leaves float, forming swarms in front of the room doorways.

Yes, the IBB Hotel in the heart of Ingelheim exudes wine culture wherever you look. The door frames glow in a bright green, a color reminiscent of spring leaves in the vineyards. Cozy armchairs and sofas in vibrant red invite you to sink into the cushions and enjoy a glass of the region’s outstanding red wines. “We live in one of Germany’s most dynamic wine regions,” says Werner, “and we have these magnificent Pinot Noirs here.”

In August 2017, the IBB Hotel Ingelheim opened its doors—brand-new and located right at Ingelheim’s central intersection. Across the street are City Hall and the “King,” as they call the new convention center here—the name also pays homage to the king who once ruled from this very spot: Charlemagne.

The IBB is part of an international hotel chain with 13 properties in four countries. Normally, hotel chains don’t necessarily stand out for their individual design; most rely on the same brand standard, no matter where the guest happens to be staying. This hotel is different, and perhaps that’s because they have Michael Werner. The 48-year-old hotel manager has been immersed in Rheinhessen’s wine culture for years. With his hotel in Alzey, he won the Best of Wine Tourism Award for his wine picnics and wine discovery tours in a vintage bus through the region’s vineyards.

The new hotel in Ingelheim now offers him the chance to give free rein to his passion for wine throughout an entire building. In the hotel rooms, everything is bathed in the colors of wine. The deep red of Burgundy covers the walls and the carpet; the small shelves are just as red and green as the rings around the lamps—white wine and red wine swirl along every edge. Old wine engravings hang on the headboards behind the beds. No wonder they won the Best of Wine Tourism Award for Accommodations right in their first year.

The four-story building comprises 109 rooms with 215 beds; the restaurant at the very top, under the roof, offers a sweeping view over the rooftops of Ingelheim to the vine-covered hills. Ingelheim is a booming town in the backyard of the major capital city of Mainz, home to the global corporation Boehringer Ingelheim. Just up the road, however, lie the ruins of Charlemagne’s medieval imperial palace—Ingelheim was already a center of power as early as the 8th century.

It was precisely at that time that they first planted the red wine grapevines on the hills of Ingelheim—the very vines for which the small town is now famous, even in the heart of the white wine region of Rheinhessen. “It’s the unique microclimate and the limestone soils that make these wonderful white Burgundies and spectacular red wines possible,” said Werner. Indeed: Arndt F. Werner, Wasem, Bettenheimer, Neus—the hotel is literally surrounded by the big names in the wine-growing world.

On weekends, Werner’s guests come here to Ingelheim to discover these wineries, the numerous wine festivals, the variety of Sauvignon Blancs, Chardonnays, and Pinot Noirs—or the sparkling wine made from Yellow Muscat. Several dozen of these heavenly wines are featured on the hotel’s wine list, and with a little luck, the host himself will open the hotel bar for a very personal tasting.

Otherwise, there’s always the culinary calendar featuring afternoon wine gatherings with winemakers or the 5-course spring menu paired with wines. And in May and July, the vintage bus once again winds its way through the region, following the trail of Rheinhessen’s wine delights. Each course of the menu is then served at a different location—every hotel, restaurant, or winery a Great Wine Capitals award winner in its own right. “We try to embody this connection,” says Werner: wine, gourmet dining, and the spirit of the Great Wine Capitals.