Also known as the "wine, sparkling wine and rose town", Eltville am Rhein (Latin: Alta Villa = high court, higher town) is the oldest and largest town in the German Rheingau wine-growing region. In 2006, it was awarded the honorary title of "Gutenberg Town" because the famous inventor of the printing press Johannes Gensfleisch, known as Gutenberg (1400 -1468), spent several years of his childhood here and also lived here at the end of his life.
The town of around 17,000 inhabitants lies on the banks of the Rhine and consists of the five districts of Eltville town centre, Erbach, Hattenheim, Martinsthal and Rauenthal. In the old town with its winding alleyways, there are many old aristocratic courtyards, half-timbered houses, restaurants and wine taverns. The world-famous Cistercian monastery of Eberbach lies in a wooded valley behind Hattenheim. Eltville is home to the Hessian State Wine Estates, as well as the wine and sparkling wine producers Albus, Baron Knyphausen, Breuer Stefan, Baron Langwerth von Simmern, H. J. Ernst, Kaufmann Urban, Lamm-Jung, Ress Balthasar, Rotkäppchen-Mumm (including the MM sparkling wine house) and Vaux.
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The glossary is a monumental achievement and one of the most important contributions to wine knowledge. Of all the encyclopaedias I use on the subject of wine, it is by far the most important. That was the case ten years ago and it hasn't changed since.
Andreas Essl
Autor, Modena