The Middle Rhine area is one of the oldest wine-growing areas in Germany. Viticulture arrived in the valley between Coblence and Neuwied in Roman times, where it was practised on flat parcels of land, as archaeological discoveries in Miesenheim, near Andernach, have shown.

By the high Middle Ages, the south-facing escarpments between Coblence and Bingen were terraced and used for viticulture. Around this time, the city of Bacharach - still a city with strong connections to wine - became the largest marketplace for wine in the Middle Rhine valley. There, one could purchase wines from Bacharach and the immediate area as well as from the "Viertälergebiet", which consists of Oberrheimbach, Niederrheimbach, Manubach, Rheindiebach, Oberdiebach, and Steeg. Numerous wines from areas further south, such as Rheingau, Rhinehessia, and Palatinate, and even Baden and Alsace, were also available.

Because of the Rhine river rapids at the Binger Loch, which posed a danger to ships, these wines had to be transported to Bacharach over land or in small ships without significant draught. Once in Bacharach, they were reloaded onto larger ships owned by Cologne-based wine merchants and sold as far away as England and Scandinavia under the name "Bacharacher".