Jon Griffin raises a glass to Frankfurt – and its multitude of wine producers.

William Shakespeare said: “A man cannot make him laugh – but that’s no marvel, he drinks no wine.”

Who can possibly argue with the world’s greatest playwright?

The Bard knew what he was talking about when he peppered his plays with references to wine, and there’s little doubt he would have greatly appreciated the vintages of the Frankfurt Rhine-Main region.

The tourist publicity material describes Frankfurt as the “world’s smallest metropolis, a vivacious city loved by locals and visitors alike.”

It’s a proud boast – after all, Frankfurt is not London, Paris or Rome, nor does it pretend to be – but it does have is an appeal all of its own, especially at Christmas.

More of that later, but true lovers of the grape tend to indulge all year round, and they can do so with alacrity in the Frankfurt region, and drink to the city fathers at the same time.

Frankfurters have an aromatic slice of the famous Rheingau wine-growing region on their very doorstep, in the shape of grapes cultivated by the city’s municipal vineyard.

The city was presented with its own vineyard in 1803, thanks to Napoleon Bonaparte. The municipal vineyards (what a marvellous idea for UK Town Halls, even in an age of so-called austerity, if the climate was a bit better) comprise 25 hectares and yields grapes used to make Riesling, red and white Burgundy, chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon.

The celebrated Rheingau region is located between the cities of Wiesbaden and Lorch, and has established a firm reputation as the cradle of German wine culture.

More than three-quarters of the harvest is used to make Riesling, easily Germany’s most popular grape, and a drink appreciated by millions worldwide.

And, for connoisseurs, quality has long been a key issue; more than a century ago a group of Rheingau wine-growers met to introduce a special quality standard, or the Association of German Quality-Tested Vineyards, as it is known.

I’m no great expert, but the Rheingau wines pass all the tests, as far as I’m concerned.

We travelled to the region at a particularly cheery time of year, to toast the health of the one and only Frankfurt Christmas Market, a business model which has been replicated with some success here on the streets of Birmingham in recent years.