Weingut St. Antony - History

History

In 1912 the Gutehoffnungshütte (later MAN AG) purchased a lime pit in the south of Nierstein including the neighbouring vineyards. The limestone is needed as raw material for the production in the ironworks of Oberhausen (Ruhr Area). After the First World War the demand for limestone decreased drastically and the management decided to use the purchased area for viticulture. In 1920 the first vintage is vinified. The wines of the estate „Gutehoffnungshütte“ were consumed only within the company or donated, later sold, to key customers. The lime pit was sold in 1955, with the proceeds reinvested in the winery. As part of this transaction top Nierstein vineyard sites were purchased and became assets of the estate and the oenologic equipment was modernized.

In the 1980s the corporate structure was changed and the Gutehoffnungshütte run under the MAN label. Also the Weingut received a new name in 1995 and is called Weingut St. Antony, after the first ironworks, St.-Antony-Hütte, in Oberhausen.

The responsibility for the winery had been directly located at the corporate management, chief oenologist was Alexander Michalsky. During this time St. Antony gathered a place in the top 100 wineries in Germany.

In 2005 Detlev Meyer, a private investor who is a textile merchant, acquired the estate. Since July 2008 another top Nierstein winery „Heyl zu Herrnsheim“, with another 13 hectares, was long time rented by Meyer and merged with St. Antony. The winemaking of both is located now in the former Gustav Adolf Schmitt winery.