The winery is located in the municipality of Johannisberg (part of Geisenheim) in the German wine-growing region of Rheingau. Emperor Napoleon (1769-1821) had taken possession of Johannisberg Castle in 1806 during his campaign against Prussia and handed it over to his marshal François-Étienne-Christophe Kellermann (1735-1820), the Duke of Valmy, for administration. But from 1808 to 1810, there were three unsuccessful harvests. In 1811, the enterprising wine merchant Gottlieb Mumm (1782-1852) from the famous Frankfurt banking and trading family P. A. Mumm made an offer to purchase the entire next wine harvest from Johannisberg Castle even before the harvest. The marshal was happy about the supposed hasard, because the 32,000 guilders offered were good money for what might again be a poor harvest.
But Gottlieb Mumm had the improbable luck of the daring man. The legendary 1811 vintage went down in wine history as the Comet Wine. Gottlieb Mumm invested the profits from 60,000 litres of this wine of the century in the purchase of exclusive vineyard sites in Johannisberg, thus laying the foundation for today's winery. Incidentally, Gottlieb Mumm also founded the famous Champagne House Mumm in Reims in 1827. However, this company has no longer been part of the family's estate since it was confiscated by France after the First World War (1914-1918).
In 1873, the Mumm family was raised to the status of nobility and has used the original title Mumm von Schwarzenstein ever since. An artificial castle ruin was built above Johannisberg as the family seat. The castle was intended to serve both as a summer residence and as the ancestral home of the Mumm family. Since 2004, Schwarzenstein Castle has belonged to a businessman from Mainz. After a complete renovation of the castle in 2005, it now houses three restaurants and a hotel.
Christian Witte is the manager of the winery, Gerd Ritter is the cellar master. The vineyards cover 65 hectares of vines in 16 individual sites. Of these, 20 hectares are in sites classified as Erstes Gew ächs. The most important are Berg Rottland and Berg Schlossberg (Rüdesheim), Frankenthal, Hinterkirch and Höllenberg(Assmannshausen), Hansenberg, Hölle, Klaus, Mittelhölle in sole ownership and Vogelsang (Johannisberg), as well as Hasensprung and Jesuitengarten (Winkel). Mainly Riesling is grown, as well as small quantities of Pinot Blanc and Pinot Noir. The winery has been a member of the VDP since 2012.
