Independent winemaker Anthony Hammond tends grapes on 5.5 hectares in Germany’s Rheingau region, considered one of Germany’s premiere Riesling areas. In terms of natural beauty, the area boasts many of the landmarks most associated with Germany’s romantic side: castle ruins, monasteries, steep vineyards and the mighty Rhine River.

When Hammond produced his first batch of Rheingau Riesling — a modest yield of some 1,000 liters — in 2000, it was still possible for a budding new vintner to acquire land, a parcel here and a parcel there, as older vintners gradually left the business and the up-and-coming generation displayed little interest in the area.

These days, Hammond explains, getting your hands on a plot in this small but superb wine region is anything but easy.

Riesling, which makes up about 80 percent of the Rheingau’s total grape production, is a variety riding a wave of popularity like never before. Hammond attributes the rise of the German Riesling to ever-improving quality and changing consumer preferences. While north European markets, particularly Norway and Scandinavia, have seen growth, Asian consumer patterns are making a real impact, too. He said Riesling, with its high acidity and relatively low alcohol content, appeals to the Asian palate and pairs well with the region’s cuisine. With China’s consumer sector on the rise, he sees no end in sight to Riesling’s popularity.

The vineyards that Hammond tends are among the highest plots of cultivated land along the Rüdesheimer Berg just west of Rüdesheim. A steady rise in average annual temperatures over the past decades means that land once considered too cool and susceptible to frost is now not only viable for raising grapes, but also actually offers advantages over vineyards that are low and close to the river. Along the river, reflective properties of the water, coupled with the natural contours of the valley that form a bowl of sorts, can create conditions too hot for a Riesling grape.

While Americans living in Germany have plenty of chances to step into the world of wine, getting to know Hammond and his business, Anthony’s Garage Winery, presents an unusual opportunity. The son of a German mother and American father, Hammond speaks both English and German with native fluency. He has ties to the U.S. military presence, his father having worked for many years as a buyer of sporting goods for the Nuremberg Post Exchange. Hammond received the first three years of his formal education at a Department of Defense school.

While the Garage Winery’s unusual name was inspired by the look of the door on his first business, the title fits the new digs, too. The only evidence of chic is the backlit shelf behind the bar displaying some 20 of the winery’s creations and the bottles’ jazzed-up labels, some in funky color schemes, others with a retro look. The names of his wines also display a playful side: Wild Thing, Sugar Babe and Kick Starter. When he started his business 10 years ago, he said, such new marketing approaches were almost heresy. Nowadays, more vintners are unleashing their creative sides.

“I’m now the more traditional of the nontraditionalists,” he remarks.

The way he has the bottles grouped at the bar sets his higher-end creations distinctly apart from their lesser brethren. His advice to wine neophytes: Start with the cheaper bottles, figure out what you like, and move upward on the quality scale as you start to understand things.

Upward motion in terms of quality is Hammond’s goal as well. He notes that while he’s not out to produce greater quantities of wine, he would like to make more truly excellent ones.

A quote on the Garage Winery’s website reads: “As the others are finishing up, we begin.” He explains the reference is to his penchant for allowing his grapes to cling to the vine a bit longer, each extra day of sun helping them to achieve the perfect degree of ripeness.

Karen Bradbury is a freelance travel columnist for Stars and Stripes. Her Top Travel Picks appears weekly in the Stars and Stripes Weekend section.

ANTHONY’S GARAGE WINERY Adopt a vine A program at Anthony Hammond’s Garage Winery in Oestrich-Winkel, Germany, allows wine- and nature-lovers to adopt a plant, identified by a stick bearing the owner’s name. The surrounding nature preserve, with its ancient stone walls and rare vegetation, is a hiker’s paradise. The 75-euro annual fee (about $106) to sponsor a vine gets the sponsor three bottles of wine, an invitation to the autumn harvest and unlimited visitation rights to the vineyards. Hammond regularly organizes activities for vine “foster parents,” who, he notes, at times get sentimental at the sight of their very own vine.

Address Friedensplatz 12, 65375 Oestrich-Winkel, Germany. The town is a 23-minute train ride from Wiesbaden’s main station.

Times Open 9 a.m.-noon Mondays-Fridays; 1-4 p.m. Saturdays

Costs Wines range from 8.50 euros to 25 euros (about $12 to $35.25)

More information Telephone: (+49) (0)6723-60 33 40; website: garagewinery.de. The winery also has a Facebook page.

Wine fest weekend Meet vintner Anthony Hammond at the Garage Winery in Oestrich-Winkel at its Hoffest through Sunday. On Saturday and Sunday at 2:30 p.m., a transfer from the winery to the vineyards is offered for vine patrons or those interested in the project. Hammond will take his guests into the hills and answer questions. The fest begins at noon on both days.

Hammond also will organize informative tours of the vineyards for small groups or play host at other functions.

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