Jochen Ratzenberger in the cellar (photo: Greg Moore)
Weingut Ratzenberger is in the beautiful town of Bacharach-Steeg on the left bank of the Rhine, about a half-hour from the Frankfurt airport. It’s our favorite first stop in Germany. The guest apartment is one of the most comfortable places we stay, with the view through the bedroom window dominated by a wall of Pinot Noir (Spätburgunder) vines marching up the towering Steeger St. Jost. Nowhere does Riesling more eloquently describe its home: the hill that the Romans called "Bacchi Ara," the altar of Bacchus (Bacharach).
The “Altar of Bacchus” — the view of Bacharach from across the Rhine (photo: Greg Moore)