The courtyard gate leads from a narrow street into a small, secluded backyard. Legend has it that Martin Luther stayed here, perhaps in 1521 on his way to the Imperial Diet in Worms. The small town of Guntersblum, with its pretty half-timbered houses, is only 20 kilometers from Worms. The fact is that the small Hotel Weingold in the center of town has been a hotel for 400 years.

A romantic white pavilion catches the eye in the courtyard, surrounded by plants, tables, and lots of lovely arrangements. "We got married here in Guntersblum 22 years ago," says Stefanie Löb nostalgically, "in the middle of the vineyards." The 52-year-old architect was born in Frankfurt, and her family moved to Guntersblum in 1988.

Stefanie studied architecture in Mainz, then ventured out into the world: Melbourne, Manila, Vienna. "I found him in London," says Stefanie, smiling at her husband Dirk. The 51-year-old is a native Australian from the metropolis of Sydney. A trained chef, he worked his way through hotels around the globe, eventually becoming a hotel manager in Berlin and Frankfurt.

"We often walked through the vineyards in Guntersblum," says Stefanie, "and Dirk would say: 'Oh, it's so beautiful here, the vineyards, the wine, right on our doorstep.'" The small town has only 4,000 inhabitants, but 15 wineries with renowned winemakers. Wine has been grown here for 1,200 years. The vineyards once belonged to monasteries, archbishops, or nobles—until 1797, when the French arrived with their revolutionary army and brought freedom, equality, and French cuisine.

Today, they serve quiche Lorraine at the "Weingold," as well as schnitzel and game burgers. In 2017, Stefanie and Dirk's dream came true with the purchase of the small hotel otels. They renamed it "Weingold" and turned it into an oasis of wine experience – for which they won the Best of Wine Tourism Award in the wine gastronomy category in 2020.

Because the real star at Weingold is the wine list: 25 different wines can be ordered here by the glass, and the selection is made according to a very special ritual. "We meet on Monday evenings with friends, neighbors, restaurateurs, and winemakers," explains Dirk, "and then we taste 85 wines, blind and anonymously."

 All the wines come from Guntersblum. "The winemakers offer us wines that they think would be a good fit for our menu," says Dirk. The wines are then tasted and evaluated, and a ranking is created to determine which wines are the most popular. "It works really well, we get such a nice, neutral evaluation," says Stefanie – and so far, the selection has always met the guests' tastes.

The small hotel has ten rooms and one vacation apartment, and can seat 60 guests in the courtyard or inside the old building. The oldest part dates back to 1660, with a different section being added every century. Inside, dark wood paneling adorns the walls, giving the dining rooms an elegant yet cozy atmosphere. The restrooms feature a specially created wine soap made from grape seed oil.

The coronavirus lockdown was tough for the small hotel. Like all hotels and restaurants, Weingold had to close for nine weeks. They survived by offering food to go and gourmet packages with matching wines. "We now have more guests than before," says Dirk with relief, "we are practically fully booked every day." During the pandemic, Germans are discovering vacations in their own country, and it is the wine regions in particular that are benefiting from this.

"The air is clean here, and there are few people," says Stefanie – and then, of course, there is the need to treat oneself in difficult times. Dirk then serves three wine glasses on a wooden tray: a Pinot Blanc, a Pinot Gris, and a Blanc de Noir from Pinot Noir.

"Many of our guests want to try different wines, but that's difficult with 25 wines, of course," says Stefanie with a smile. So Dirk invented the "Piffchen Probe," which allows guests to try different wines in 0.1-liter sizes. A journey of discovery into the diversity of Guntersblum wines – Martin Luther would have liked that.