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History
In 1924 the owner of a winery and master winemaker Peter Mertes founded the company in the little village of Minheim on the Mosel. His intention was to go beyond pure wine growing, which had been a documented tradition in the Mertes family for more than 400 years. Peter Mertes had a clear goal. He wanted to deliver his wines directly to his customers. The basis for the blossoming business was an extensive vineyard area between the well-known wine villages Bernkastel and Piesport on the Mosel. In the 1950s, his son-in-law, Dr. Gustav Willkomm, began to operate in the famous wine villages on the Rhine (Nierstein, Oppenheim, Bingen and Mainz) and a little later in the Pfalz. In the 1960s, the assortment increased to include wines from the Rheingau and the Nahe. With this assortment the customer base as well as the sales markets grew, and today you can find wine from Peter Mertes in all parts of Germany and many export markets. Besides the vineyards on the Mosel that continued to increase, wine cellars, bottle facilities and modern climate-controlled warehouses emerged during the 1970s and 80s. Nowadays, the company owns Germany’s largest barrel cellar specifically for German red wine as well as prestigious wineries with premium vineyard locations. At the time of the winery’s founding the enjoyment of wine was a privilege reserved for only the top layers of society. Peter Mertes’ vision was to appeal to the broader population with selected well cultivated wines of the best quality. This vision remains today and is the basis for the company’s philosophy. In the last few years, the sales markets in Eastern European and Asian countries have been successfully increased especially in terms of German “Qualität” wines. Today, with several hundred employees in various locations, enologists, cellar masters, vineyard engineers, sales and marketing specialists, Peter Mertes offers a broad assortment for wine lovers both within Germany and throughout the world. Since 1996 the company headquarters has been located in the famous wine city of Bernkastel-Kues on the Mosel.
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