The wine estate of the Eberbach Monastery was founded in 1136 by St. Bernhard of Clairvaux (Burgundy) and through its tireless pursuit of best quality wines made important wine history. This centuries-old tradition has led the Eberbach Monastery to become the largest German estate, a tradition carried on after the monastery‘s secularization in 1803 through the Dukes of Nassau, then beginning in 1866 as Royal Domain by the state of Prussia and since 1945 by the Federal State of Hesse as proprietor of the wine estate.
Worldwide known are the famous wine auctions that, since 1806, take place every year at Kloster Eberbach. The wine treasury of the monastery still houses noble wines from that era. The oldest bottles date back until 1706 and the treasury is seen as one of the most valuable of the world.
Another milestone in the history of the winery is the co-foundation of theVDP „Verband Deutscher Prädikatsweingüter“ (Association of German Premium Wine Estates) in 1910. Already at that time the list of clients of the estate was impressive. Even Otto von Bismarck, the German chancellor, the German Emperor and the Rothschild family appreciated the wines of the Eberbach Monastery.
With the knowledge that the fundamentals of highest quality wines lie in the vineyard, the Cistercians, the Nassau dukes and the Prussians acquired the best vineyards, thereby giving the estate command over unequaled holdings on the Hessische Bergstrasse and in the Rheingau.
Wines of historical quality standards are produced in the two wine cellars in Assmannshausen and at the Steinberg just outside the Eberbach Monastery. The Pinot-Noir wine cellar in Assmannshausen, was established in the 1920‘s, while the modern Steinberg Wine Cellar was opened in 2008 as one of the biggest Riesling-Cellars in Europe.
Kloster Eberbach