It was the summer of 1994 when I first set eyes on Mainz, Germany, and my visit coincided with an unprecedented heatwave. Woefully unprepared with only three words – bitte, Bier, wunderbar – and a suitcase of far-too-warm clothes, it took a while for me to add the word Wein to my vocabulary.
When I finally did, it came as a result of the many Weinstuben I...