Fantastiska Vinotek

One of the year's absolute highlights is the Baked Apple Market in autumn. It's a major kitchen buffet, with hearty regional Rheinhessen specialties, a large cheese buffet in the cellar and a full range of wines from the estate's own portfolio — held each year on 30 October. But a visit to Weingut Pauser in Flonheim is a fine idea during the rest of the year as well. 

Pauser is a young, fresh and creative family-run winery. Founded at the end of the 1970s, Friedrich Pauser and his daughter Eva Pauser-Brand – a young winemaker herself and Rheinhessen's 'Wine Queen' in 2005 — cultivate over 30 hectares of vineyards. 

The estate is known for wines of striking minerality, refreshing character and fruity elegance. The focus is primarily on Pinot varieties and "sur lie" single vineyard wines, as well the feinherb Chardonnay, the Sauvignon Blanc and Blanc de Noir. The reds are planted with Saint Laurent and Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah. Friedrich and Eva Pauser have a clear division of labor when it comes to the wines: papa is responsible for the whites, daughter for the reds. 

Wife and mother Cornelia tends to customers and the office, and organizes the vinothek events as well. The 400-square-meter space was constructed in 2010, with a bright, inviting tasting room of steel, glass, wood, slate and stone. Wine 

tastings for groups large or small, or private events, can be booked at any time. The event room with the attached sun deck is also a charmer, not least for its lovely view out over Rheinhessen's hilly landscape. 

A choice of dishes is available for wine tastings, from vegetarian fare to international cuisine... and, of course, hearty regional specialties. One can also arrange a vineyard hike to the Flonheimer Trullo, followed by a tasting of six of the winery's wines, many of them award winners. 

Annual awards have rained in from the Rheinland-Pflaz Chamber of Commerce, and Gault Millau bestowed the estate its first grape. "Der Mainzer" wine guide called the winery one of Rheinhessen's best, and the 2014 Sauvignon Blanc "sur lie" single vineyard wine took first place with 92 points in the "Sauvignon Blanc Trophy 2015." In writing about that bottle, organizer Mario Scheuermann wrote: "The winning wine ultimately distinguished itself from all others through its unbelievable presence." Best to try it for yourself, in Weingut Pauser's vinothek: a place of harmony and hospitality.