wineBANK Palatinate
The Private Members’ Club for wine lovers in the heart of the town of Wachenheim.

Become a wineBANKer and rent a compartment

Wine storage meets Private Members’ Club
Distinguished and elegantly casual – entertain your guests in the wineBANK around the clock.

Become a wineBANKer and rent a compartment

wineBANK Palatinate
Create Your Very Own Wine Tradition In The Heart Of The Palatinate

Become a wineBANKer and rent a compartment

»wineBANK Palatinate«

Create Your Very Own Wine Tradition In The Heart Of The Palatinate

The wineBANK Palatinate located in the historic Rettinger House dating back to 1618 offers you a golden opportunity to do just this. Our Private Members’ Club can be found directly between Wachenheim Castle and the most famous butcher’s shop for Helmut Kohl’s favourite dish „Saumagen“.

I was destined to love wine and this love began at a very early age. My grandfather was a cellar master and during the school holidays I earned some pocket money in the vineyards. But up until the founding of the wineBANK, the world of wine remained just one of my hobbies. For the last decades I had dedicated my professional career to banking and finance. Prior to deciding to open a wineBANK with my partners, I was Deputy Board Member of the Rhein-Haardt Savings Bank.

So, for me, the wineBANK is the perfect way to merging my professional past with my personal passion for wine.

Come and discover our very own world of wine in one of the most unusual and historic vaulted cellars in the Palatinate. We look forward to welcoming you!

Christian König
Your Host in the wineBANK Palatinate

7
Vaults
in the wineBANK

320
Compartments
in the wineBANK

1618
The year of the building of
Rettinger House

40.974
bottles
can be stored

An Overview: Palatinate Hospitality In The wineBANK

Wachenheim in the Palatinate. Following on from the Rheingau region, the Palatinate is the second wine-growing area boasting its own wineBANK. The place to be for the enophile community of the Palatinate can be found in the shadow of Wachenheim Castle. Seven vaults with 252 compartments, 60 historic compartments, six tank-style vaults and also two individual vaults offer wineBANKers the possibility of storing more than 40,000 bottles of wine. Safely and under perfect climatic conditions.

As a wineBANKer you will enjoy the privilege of being able to use the location with your guests 24 hours a day. You will receive your Member’s Card which is the Open Sesame to your exclusive world of wine whenever you wish to enter. Enjoy!

Architecture and Design: The Rettinger House

The wineBANK Palatinate is located in the side wing of the late Baroque Rettinger House in Wachenheim, an edifice dating back to the year of 1618. According to documentation handed down, this house was extended in 1736 in line with the plans of the master builder Johann Georg Stahl who was in the service of the Prince-Bishop of Speyer.

In the course of the centuries the Rettinger family has shaped the destiny of Wachenheim quite significantly. One example is Carl Ludwig Rettinger – he was one of the founding members of the Schloss Wachenheim sparkling wine cellars. He also served as Mayor of the town. In the last century the Rettingers were considered to be a family of prestigious winemakers. And still today the building’s two splendid wine cellars attest to the family’s flourishing wine trade.

In 2011 the Distler family took over the historic estate of the Rettingers and restored it as befits such a monument. Guests reach the wineBANK through the elaborate courtyard. The artistic team of Schöne Architects has succeeded in bringing back to life the two floors housing the wineBANK. The upper level is home to a stylish reception area with an impressively high ceiling of eight meters. Below are the two interconnected vaulted cellars. This is where the wines are stored, partly in ancient concrete barrels and traditional storage receptacles for bottles. Visiting the wineBANK is a truly sensual experience!

Our Region: Palatinate Superlatives

The German wine-growing area of the Palatinate can look back on a wine heritage that stretches back to the time of the Romans. Its 23,000 hectares of cultivated land make it the second largest wine region in Germany – and that corresponds to about a quarter of the total wine-growing area in the entire country. The Palatinate is blessed with a mild climate enjoying in some places 2,000 hours of sunshine a year. That is why Burgundian grape variatals thrive as well as Riesling in this region. Since 2008 the Palatinate has been regarded as the largest Riesling area of the world – over 5,000 hectares of the „King of White Wine“ are under cultivation here.

Geographically speaking, this wine-growing region is situated between Mannheim/Ludwigshafen and Kaiserlautern. Wachenheim enjoys a relatively central location on the Wine Route. And at the heart of its picturesque town center stands the Rettinger House with the wineBANK. The cult butcher’s shop Hambel – made famous primarily by Helmut Kohl’s favorite dish of „Saumagen“ – is just a stone’s throw away, as is the top-class VDP vineyard of Dr. Bürklin-Wolf.

Why not combine a business appointment in Mannheim or a tour of a vineyard with a visit to the wineBANK? Impress your guests with your wine collection and enjoy with them the unique ambience of the wineBANK Palatinate

Wine and enjoyment

wineBANK Palatinate offers the opportunity to try 12 first-class wines "by the glass". The wines of our cooperation partners are among the best that the Palatinate region has to offer. From this extensive offering, we and our partners have made an interesting selection. This includes grand crus, premier crus and rarities, which can usually only be bought by the bottle in restaurants. The wineBANKers of other locations are also always welcome to enjoy a glass of wine here.

wineBANKers enjoy special conditions and can have the wines of the 12 vineyards delivered straight to their compartment. Upon request, we can also organize tastings at the wineBANK.

Accompanying the extraordinary selection of wines, the butcher shop Hambel from Wachenheim will prepare fine delicacies for you upon prior order.

Further information on catering, co-operation partners, wine tasting, wine auctions or on wine as an alternative investment opportunity can be found on the website of WeinBusiness Wachenheim.

Become a wineBANKer and rent a compartment

Your Host

Christian König, Managing Director and Club Manager

From Deputy Savings Bank Board Member to wineBANK –Christian König is and remains a passionate banker at heart. He passed through several stations along his professional path before joining the Board of the Rhein-Haardt Savings Bank. In 2014 he decided to retire from this kind of banking in order to embark on a second „career path“: the one leading to his position as Managing Director and Club Manager of the wineBANK Palatinate.

His love of wine began at a very early age. At home with his parents in Haardt (a suburb of Neustadt on the Wine Route), he learned how to run a vineyard from the pruning of the vines right up to the harvesting of the grapes. The school holidays always saw him helping out in various vineyards when he took part in the grape harvests and worked in several wine cellars. Another advantage was the fact that his grandfather, a cellar master, supported him by passing on useful tips from the business.

And by attending seminars and training courses on sensor technology, he was able to complement his practical knowledge with the necessary theory. Such expertise also helped him in his capacity as the long-term Chairman of the Supervisory Board of a major Palatinate wine-makers’ cooperative.

Today König is a Member of the Order of the Palatinate Wine Fraternity. It is this fraternity’s aim to serve the best interests of wine’s cultural heritage. As indeed is the similar aim of the wineBANK. On that note, König is looking forward to spending a thrilling time of sheer delight with you in the wineBANK Palatinate.

Become a wineBANKer and rent a compartment

Legal Details

Locations

wineBANK Palatinate
For all questions about your contract and the location Pfalz our team would be pleased to assist you

Club manager Christian König
christian.koenig@winebank.de

Location
wineBANK Palatinate
Langgasse 1
67157 Wachenheim

+49 6322 790 9191
pfalz@winebank.de
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