Winemaker Andreas Mohr offers his guests in Lonsheim an unusual wine tasting in an old Land Rover

When you think of a safari, you think of lions and giraffes, the desert, and Africa. “Over there on the horizon, you can see Frankfurt, and to the left is the Rochusberg near Bingen,” Andreas Mohr points out. We’re sitting in a Land Rover, a true off-road vehicle, complete with a huge spare tire on the hood. From the plateau above Lonsheim, our view stretches far across the hills of Rheinhessen, taking in small valleys and skimming the edges of fields. There are hares and hawks, picturesque vineyard cottages, and the Urmeer cliff—but above all, our exploration focuses on the vineyards and wines of Rheinhessen.

Andreas Mohr calls his tours through the vineyards "wine safaris," and his vehicle is a 1988 Land Rover Defender 110. "The car once belonged to the British Rhine Army, 30 years ago," he says. Today, Mohr drives happy tourists from all over Germany through his homeland, offering a truly unusual approach to the world of winemaking. "It's not really a seminar, and it's not just a wine tasting," says Mohr. "Originally, I just wanted to show people how beautiful it is here."

Covered wagon rides are usually the winegrowers' means of transport in the vineyards, but Mohr says that meaningful conversation between winegrower and guest is not possible in this setting – not to mention the somewhat old-fashioned image. Mohr's car is open at the sides and top, allowing the view to wander far and wide. He calls the Land Rover "my comfort zone," and indeed, a lively and open rapport develops immediately in the protected space of the car. "Here in the car, people dare to ask questions they would never ask otherwise," says Mohr. "The confined space creates trust—in me as a winemaker, but also in wine as a product."

"We turn wine education into a science," says the 38-year-old, but that creates distance – Mohr prefers to create unobtrusive closeness to his guests. "My guests experience wine in both senses of the word," he says, "every bend in the road reveals a new perspective." Meanwhile, we wind our way up and down through the vineyards, past water huts and through sunken paths.

Mohr first had the idea for wine safaris in 2009, but the road to implementation was long—Mohr first had to find his own way as a winemaker. When he was 25, his father fell ill with multiple sclerosis, and the son suddenly had to take over the winery. Mohr dropped out of college in Geisenheim and instead earned his master's degree. His graduation trip took him to California, to Napa and Sonoma Valley – it was a key experience in terms of wine tourism.

"The winemakers are so close to their guests," he enthuses, "everyone is welcome – and in the region, everyone benefits from what their neighbors have to offer." Mohr believes that German wine tourism has a lot to learn from this: it needs to be more family-friendly, more welcoming to guests, and generally more guest-oriented. "I had to stop thinking like a winemaker," says Mohr, "I am a service provider, a tour guide, a coach."

And with success: Mohr finally launched his wine safaris in 2015, completing 20 tours in the first year alone, with twice as many expected this year. Four wines are tasted during the 60-kilometer tour, with two snacks, Spundekäs cheese, and ham smoked in a barrique barrel, accompanied by a Domina red wine. However, his wine safaris are not sales events; they create experiences in the environment of winemaking—in the cellar, in the vineyard, and in the countryside. "It's like a live movie in which the people are the main characters," says Mohr, "these images stay in your mind." And that, he adds, "is something no wine tasting between four walls can offer."