The tiny region Hessische Bergstrasse takes its name from an old Roman trade route known as the strata montana, or mountain road. It is a pretty landscape of vines and orchards scattered on hilly slopes - famous for its colorful and fragrant springtime blossoms, the earliest in Germany. Riesling and Müller-Thurgau account for two-thirds of the area under vine. The wines tend to be fragrant and rich, with more body and an acidity and finesse similar to those of the Rheingau.

Well over half of the region's wine-growers deliver their grapes to the regional cooperative cellars in Heppenheim. The State Wine Domain in Bensheim is the region's largest vineyard owner. Given the small size of the region, Bergstrasse wines are scarce and almost without exception consumed locally.