There are proverbs about doctors and the health brought by nature. If “an apple a day keeps the doctor away”, as an English proverb says, it is equally true that “wine drunk in small quantities is an antidote to death, and in large quantities it is the poison of life”, if we are to believe a Persian proverb.
The therapeutic valences of wine have been spoken of since antiquity, but the only vineyard whose wine is even called Doctor is one of the most famous and at one point, the most expensive vineyards in the world. There is also a legend about the wine produced in this fruitful vineyard since the middle of the 14th century. It is said that the Archbishop of Trier Bohemond II, who occupied the ecclesiastical seat of the time in that Roman city, was seriously ill in 1360 and that no remedy used was of any use to him. Herr Ritter von Hunolstein, the owner of the Bohemond vineyard, thought of sweetening the prelate’s last days, the friendship between them being an additional argument. The archbishop, moved by the gesture of his noble friend and the prospect of his imminent death, finished the two bottles of Bernkasteler wine he had received. Legend only tells us that the next day, he was cured and exclaimed: "This wonderful Doctor has cured me!", so the wine designated as the only remedy for the archbishop’s illness was named just that, Doctor.
The Hunolstein vineyard has only 3.25 hectares, but it is considered to be among the best for Riesling.
If the story of the archbishop’s miraculous healing is a possible event that has become a legend, there are documents that attest to the fact that King Edward VII (1841-1910) of Great Britain drank Doctor Riesling as medicine. At the beginning of the 20th century, in the early years of Berlin, wine had reached the price of 10 gold marks per bottle. This value corresponded to approximately one twelfth of the monthly salary of a worker in the chemical industry.
The Doctor wine was appreciated by many famous people, among whom were Kaiser Wilhelm II. (1859-1941), US President Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969) and German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer (1876-1967).
Until you meet the doctor wine, let’s worship the wine of joy, may the New Year be better!
