Also known as the "wine, sparkling wine and rose town", Eltville am Rhein (lat. Alta Villa = high court, higher town) is the oldest and largest town in the German wine-growing region of Rheingau. In 2006 it was given the title of "Gutenbergstadt" (Gutenberg Town) because the famous inventor of printing, Johannes Gensfleisch, called Gutenberg (1400 -1468) spent some years of his childhood here and also stayed here at the end of his life. The town of around 17,000 inhabitants is situated on the banks of the Rhine and consists of the five districts of Eltville, Erbach, Hattenheim, Martinsthal and Rauenthal. In the old town with its winding lanes there are many old noble farms, half-timbered houses, restaurants and wine taverns. In a wooded valley behind Hattenheim lies the world-famous Cistercian monastery of Eberbach. Eltville is the seat of the Hessian State Wine Estates, as well as the wine and sparkling wine producers Albus, Baron Knyphausen, Breuer Stefan, Freiherr Langwerth von Simmern, H. J. Ernst, Kaufmann Urban, Lamm-Jung, Ress Balthasar, Rotkäppchen-Mumm (with MM, among others) and Vaux.
![]()
I have great respect for the scope and quality of the wein.plus encyclopaedia. It is a unique place to go for crisp, sound information on terms from the world of wine.
Dr. Edgar Müller
Dozent, Önologe und Weinbauberater, Bad Kreuznach