Jancis’s article today on the 2015 German wines she tasted recently at the enormous annual trade fair held by the VDP in Mainz will be followed next week by my review of Kaupers, an extraordinary restaurant a 30-minute drive away to the south west of this attractive city.
On the basis that both of these articles may combine to inspire many readers of this website to visit this historic region, here are a few more useful recommendations.
WHERE TO STAY: The city’s long historical importance owes a great deal to its position on the banks of the rivers Rhine and the Main and although a great deal has changed over the years, including considerable building on reclaimed land, the river still figures prominently in the city’s make-up.
Hence our pleasure at being shown up to room 201 of the Hyatt Regency, a corner room overlooking the Rhine with its constant boat traffic. The room itself is large and comfortable and the views impressive.
The hotel’s ground floor incorporates the old and the new. By the entrance is the old sandstone Fort Malakoff, which now includes a bar. Opposite the reception is a very lively café and then further along is the Bellpepper restaurant, which, with its open kitchen, fulfils the necessary requirement for anyone embarking on a day’s wine tasting – the provision of a first-class breakfast.
WHERE TO BUY BREAD: Perhaps it was the quality of the bread at breakfast, although I have to admit that buying bread in Germany is still generally a pleasure, but this was the first question I put to my guide, Brian Huck (of whom much more later) when we met. And neither he nor the city of Mainz disappointed me.
We headed, past several bakeries where Huck pointed out that their bread was made in a central production unit rather than on site, to the Vetter bakery at Jakobsbergstrasse 4 (tel +49 6131 2282 25, no website).
As we approached it a woman came out of the shop and told us to 'go in, it’s the best bread in the city', advice we promptly took. Inside were quite a lot of empty shelves, although this was just after midday. Behind the counter was another woman with a smiling face who explained all the bread on offer.
I settled for a round rye bread that served several purposes: it provided supper back in London that night plus toast for the next two mornings’ breakfasts – and its warmth and aroma added considerably to my backpack for even longer. Possibly the best €5 ever spent!
MY GUIDE: Was an American, Brian Huck. Tall, bearded, quite serious – he has edited the Wikipedia entry on Mainz – Huck proved the perfect guide to this historic city.
We began with a walk through the city centre and visited the Gutenberg Museum, before heading past several historic landmarks that would have escaped my attention without him, before finishing up at the former engine house that belonged to Deutsche Bahn. Today it has been transformed into the Museum of Ancient Seafaring and includes models of six Roman ships discovered here in the early 1980s.
This was then followed by a tour of the Roman amphitheatre, very close to the railway station, and a walk up the hill, past a tiny vineyard, to the citadel before descending to see the Marc Chagall windows at St Stephan’s church and the even more imposing cathedral.
Huck can be contacted either directly via bhuck@me.com or via the Mainz Tourism Office. Huck comes highly recommended.
WHERE TO EAT AND DRINK: My trip started somewhat disappointingly, with a long list of Weinstuben, the inexpensive, atmospheric places to eat well and drink Riesling or beer, and then the following comment, ‘it’s sad that they will all be closed on the Monday when you are in Mainz’.
I publish a list of the recommended ones anyway.
Weinhaus Schreiner, www.weinhausschreiner.de
Weinhaus Wilhelmi, www.weinhaus-wilhelmi.de
Weinhaus Bluhm, www.weinhausbluhm.com
Weinstube Loesch, www.weinstube-loesch.de
Weinhaus Michel Wein, www.michel-wein.de
Weinstube Hottum, www.dj-sonic.net/hottum/Weinstube_Hottum
Despite this, on the Saturday evening and the Sunday lunch I managed to eat at two very good restaurants.
The first was at Geberts Weinstuben close to the river in the heart of the city. This was where we ate with Steffen Christmann and Paul Fürst, blissfully unaware that another much bigger feast was going on attended by our friend, surprise guest Hugh Johnson (see Germans too). This is obviously a strong local favourite and everyone seemed to be personally served by the patronne.
On offer was a €54 menu tied to the VDP event from which no one could leave the table complaining of feeling hungry. It began with a plate that included a combination of a home-made terrine, a marinated trout in cream, and a cup of Rheinhessen asparagus soup. This was followed by a medallion of monkfish with bacon (served, as so often today, in a bowl which made it awkward to cut); and then ultimately to a thick slice of veal with more asparagus and morels. We passed on the rhubarb tart.
The following day we walked east, as the sun came out, to the Favorite Hotel owned by Anja and Christian Barth, and I began to appreciate Mainz in the sunshine. Certainly, this hotel with its location high over the river and its obviously attractive beer garden is in a prime position to benefit from the warmer weather.
To these attractions must now be added the culinary pull of Philipp Stein in the kitchen, who, last year, became the youngest German chef to be awarded a Michelin star. This being a Sunday lunch there was a mixed crowd, including Hugh Johnson at a window table, delighted to find his favourite Guillardeu oysters on the menu, here served with Chester bread, cubes of sliced pumpernickel bread stuffed with cheese. And in between our table and his was an elderly German couple who asked Stein when he visited the restaurant towards the end of service whether he, as chef, had made everything himself. His response was a politely self-deprecating explanation that cooking was a team effort.
And so it proved in particular in one terrific dish that seemed to combine all that was best in German cooking, traditional and modern. Described on the menu as an ‘essence of oxtail’, this was a dish that fully lived up to its billing: a ravioli of oxtail enhanced with a rich, pungent oxtail soup and some foie gras shavings. Perhaps this is not a dish for the coming summer months but one definitely to be enjoyed when next autumn comes round. The wine service, and the choice of wines by the glass, was excellent, too.
From here, it was a very pleasant walk back in the sunshine to the Rhine, past a growing number of cyclists and the city’s rowing club, to the Hyatt.