The winery is located in the municipality of Johannisberg (part of Geisenheim) in the German wine-growing region of Rheingau. Emperor Napoleon (1769-1821) had taken possession of Johannisberg Castle in 1806 during his campaign against Prussia and handed it over to his marshal François-Étienne-Christophe Kellermann (1735-1820), the Duke of Valmy, for administration. But from 1808 to 1810, there were three unsuccessful harvests. In 1811, the enterprising wine merchant Gottlieb Mumm (1782-1852) from the famous Frankfurt banking and trading family P. A. Mumm made an offer to purchase the entire next wine harvest from Johannisberg Castle even before the harvest. The marshal was happy about the supposed hasard, because the 32,000 guilders offered were good money for what might again be a poor harvest.
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The Wine lexicon helps me to stay up to date and refresh my knowledge. Thank you for this Lexicon that will never end in terms of topicality! That's what makes it so exciting to visit more often.
Thorsten Rahn
Restaurantleiter, Sommelier, Weindozent und Autor; Dresden