The Martinshof Winery, Dienheim, Germany

Winemaker Achim Martin outside the cellar door at Martinshof Weingut in Dienheim

Werner Wehmeier with winemaker Achim Martin

An eye-catching label on a Martinshof riesling

The Herrenberg vineyard area above the city of Oppenheim. One of these blocks produces grapes made into fine wines by Achim Martin

The Martinshof Winery, Dienheim, Germany

Achim Martin is an enthusiastic and skilled winemaker in his early thirties living in Dienheim, a town near Mainz in Germany. The family has been making wine from grapes grown alongside the River Rhine for a number of generations and Achim completed a course in winemaking at Giesenheim near Wiesbaden about 10 years ago.

Succession planning within family farms is sometimes problematic no matter which continent you happen to be on, and it has taken careful planning for Achim to take the business to where it is now. In the traditional method of succession the son learnt the business from the father in the vineyards and winery but the establishment of oenology courses in the 1970s and 80s has led to a new generation making wine along the Rhine.

The opening of different markets within the 1970s saw expansion of areas under plantings of new varieties to this part of the Rhine. The new breed of winemaker is taking some of the plantings back to more original varieties such as Riesling and Gewürztraminer and concentrating on very high quality and less quantity. Growers tend to have the choice of growing and selling on their grapes to a processor or growing and then processing their own. Achim makes wine from about 70% of his grapes currently with the remainder being sold to a high quality processor who bottles the wine for clients but the region of origin is not identified.

Vineyards are licenced in the EU with strict limits on what can be produced and where it is produced. It costs about 2.8 Euro per square metre of vineyard for the licence. The licencing scheme currently in place will end within 5 years and most winemakers are positioning themselves to ensure their viability after the change.

Achim is involved in a small community of local winemakers who assist each other especially in tasting new vintages and constructively criticising the products. Blind tastings are held to enable each vintner to objectively comment on each new vintage of a variety of grapes. Achim confessed to surprise at one such tasting when he outlined some steps to improve one wine only to find that it was one of his own.

A new method of marketing his wine takes Achim to many areas within Germany and to other European countries. Concentrating on his white wines, he has made inroads into potential markets in The Netherlands where he holds tastings and wine sessions. Within Germany he has a list of customers and each spring and summer he spends a weekend in a restaurant in a particular area and allows his clients to taste the wines he is about to release. This allows clients to choose their wines having tasted them without the need to travel. Delivery of purchased wines takes place during the following week. His wines are not sold at supermarkets or other outlets, just by mail or phone order or at the cellar door.

The 27 hectares of grapes Achim grows are located in several areas within a relatively short distance of the winery. Some of the vineyards adjoin housing areas and management of activities within the vineyards needs to be done in a way that allows general vinicultural work without causing any great difficulties to neighbours. Pheromone packets are used extensively to attract male moths rather than spraying. Some systemic fungicides are sprayed to ensure the quality of grapes at picking.

There are 2000 wine producers in the Rhine-Hessen wine growing region managing some 26000 hectares of vineyards. Achim Martin is currently placed within the top 30 producers but has an ambition to be in the top 10.