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Axel Schmitt is an organic vintner in Ober-Hilbersheim, a mere hop, step and a jump from Mainz.
He’s taken over the vineyard from his Dad, Berthold – shown here, doing the honours on Saturday – and it’s been going on like that since 1672.
Every 2 years, they open the gates of their vineyard for a 3 day Summer Festival in August.
Wine tasting, art exhibition, live music, good good (organically grown, of course and some of it from their own garden) and their own wines.
Place was packed on Saturday and you meet the most interesting people – a couple who transcribe classical music for a living (he) and play classic concerts and teach (she), for example. And can STILL talk about Dylan with enthusiasm.
And Ulla Nelles from the vernissage on Friday .
But the wine was definitely better on Saturday…
Mainz Daily Photo 
>Lovely photo. And yeah…. vernissage…
>Now this is the Deutchland I remember. The wine fests along the Nahe in Bad Kreuznach were fun. I remember them in late August and early September. A beautiful time of year.
>The question is: What sort of wine were they serving on Friday?! Pretty grim stuff – half a glass and I felt decidedly ropey on Saturday am.I’m not dogmatic about organics and there are a lot of non-organic vintners who make better wines than Axel. I just prefer the concept of messing around with nature as little as possible. One of the best (and organic too) is Chateau Canorgue in Bonnieux. “A good year” with Russell Crowe was filmed there.
>Why? What kind of wine were they serving on Saturday?Organic viticulture is very popular in France, as well. Can you tell the difference just by tasting the wine?
>Beautiful capture of the light really sets off this scene. What a fun event. I’m glad you got to attend, since it happens only every other year. My family in Germany has a vinyard (Rothhaas). A cousin has visited there and came back with a bottle of the wine. It had a small red rabbit on the lable (Roth haas). Someday I hope to visit, too. Hope it is a beautiful as this!-Kim
>It does look like the people at the table are having a good time. I also found it interesting to see what is being worn by the people.Nice post. I hope you get a lot of visitors.I am also working on Features about why people comment on some posts and not others. You might find that interesting when it is done.Abraham LincolnBrookville Daily Photo