Mainz is one of the centers of the German wine economy as a center for wine trade and the seat of the state's wine minister. Due to the importance and history of the wine industry for the federal state, Rhineland-Palatinate is the only state to have such a department.
Since 2008, the city is also member of the Great Wine Capitals Global Network (GWC), an association of the most exclusive and well-known wineculture-cities of the world. Many wine traders also work in the town. The sparkling wine producer Kupferberg produces in Mainz-Hechtsheim and even Henkell � now located on the other side of the river Rhine � had been founded once in Mainz. The famous Blue Nun, one of the first branded wines, had been marketed by the family Sichel.
Mainz had been a wine growing region since Roman times and the image of the wine town Mainz is fostered by the tourist center. The Haus des Deutschen Weines (English: House of German Wine), is located in beside the theater. It is the seat of the German Wine Academy, the German Wine Institute (DWI) and the German Wine Fund (DWF). The Mainzer Weinmarkt (wine market) is one of the great wine fairs in Germany.
The Schott AG, one of the world's largest glass manufactures, as well as the Werner & Mertz, a large chemical factory, are based in Mainz. Other companies such as IBM or Novo Nordisk have their German administration in Mainz as well.
Johann-Joseph Krug, founder of France's famous Krug champagne house in 1843, was born in Mainz in 1800
