The new wine museum „Multimediale Weinerlebniswelt WeinKulturLand Mosel“ in Bernkastel-Kues on the Mosel in Germany was officially opened at 14h00 today, Thursday. Whereas in the past technical equipment and informative tables were presented to visitors, these can now immerse themselves in a virtual world of wine. Wein-Plus, the leading German-language Internet portal for wine consumers and professionals, supports the museum by providing a geosearch function at a terminal that allows guests to travel through the Mosel valle at a modern screen.

The museum combines wine producing traditions with state-of-the-art media technology, guiding the visitor visually around the Mosel wine growing region by means of 15 Point of Information – Terminals, numerous LCD and plasma screens and touchscreen displays. A Holo-Pro system, a home movie installation and an aroma bar ensure a visit to the museum is a festival of the senses.

The project is organised by the Nikolaus von Kues Weingut GmbH, Bernkastel-Kues. The project was developed and executed by the research institute as well as the faculty of the wine college in Geisenheim, together with the University of Wiesbaden. The world-famous research centre at Geisenheim is responsible for the scientific and factual quality of the almost 1000 pages of information. The intention is to have all the pages available in English by the end of the year, in order to make the information on the high level of wine culture in the Mosel valley to international guests.

20 stations covering the topics of landscape, wine and culture take the wine lover through this wonderful world of wine in 1 ½ hours. Station 1 allows you to surf through the Internet world of the museum without barriers, and to get to know the Mosel vinotheque, the estates as well as the hotels and guest houses of the region. If you would prefer to fly above the Mosel rather than to surf on it, a huge 70 inch screen provides a virtual flight over the Mosel valley, made possible using orthographic and vineyard maps drawn up by the geologists at the state office for geology and mining in Mainz.

The themes of the other stations are terroir, history, landscape and geology, growing wine on steep slopes, grape varieties, VIP’s of the Mosel, vine nurseries, Mosel impressions, interactive vine pruning, information on cellar technology, an aroma bar, sensory appreciation, marketing, presentation and packaging, wine storage and maturation, wine and health, wine culture including wine and food, wine and glass, wine etiquette, festivals in the region, cultural events and a geosearch function set up by Wein-Plus.

Movie fans can look forward to interesting wine movies in home movie format, and a vinotheque is available for those who want to buy a good bottle of wine and take it home.

This unique multimedia wine world has been created using only 300.000 € of subsidies drawn from the EU agricultural networking programme „Leader +“. The long-term objective is to use the overriding brand of the Regional initiative Mosel to provide better networking of wine producers, trade and sales.

The museum is located at Cusanusstraße 2 in 54470 Bernkastel-Kues.
Additional information at "http://www.moselweinmuseum.de/">www.moselweinmuseum.de or www.weinkulturland-mosel-info.