Each bottle of Karthäuserhof wine is distinctive for both its contents and its trademark features. For almost 120 years, Karthäuserhof has been the only winegrowing estate to mark the bottles with a single neck label – our trademark banderole.

The legend is told that Karl Wilhelm Rautenstrauch preferred to use the fresh spring water of the Eitelsbach, which flowed directly by his garden pavilion, to cool his wine. He was perpetually annoyed when the labels on the belly of the bottle would get wet and fall off, and he could no longer tell which bottle contained which wine. His clever yet simple solution was to label the bottles with only the neck banderole, making it easier to keep the label out of the water and visible even while the wine was cooling.

Our trademark banderole bears the crest of the Karthäuserhof and its signature monkey. This animal was placed on the crest by the Saint Bruno of Cologne, the founder of the Carthusian order. Saint Bruno was called to Rome in the 11th century by the pope, but he was never comfortable in the Eternal City and finally settled in Calabria, where he encountered and came to admire the monkeys.

Another distinguishing element of our trademark banderole is the turquoise-and-gold frame. Our ancestor Kathinka Rautenstrauch was born a Mühlens, of the famous “4711” perfume house in Cologne, and she brought her house colors to the Karthäuserhof.