Sonja Christ-Brendemühl ( Christ; born 1984), from the German wine region of Mosel ("Moselle"), was chosen as the

German Wine Queen The German Wine Queen () is the representative of the German wine industry. The Wine Queen is supported by two princesses, forming together the German Wine Ambassadors. She is elected, usually in the Rhineland-Palatinate, Palatine town of Neus ...

on 9 October 2009 in the city of

Heilbronn Heilbronn () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in northern Baden-Württemberg, Germany, surrounded by Heilbronn (district), Heilbronn District. From the late Middle Ages on, it developed into an important trading centre. At the begi ...

, as the successor to

Marlies Dumbsky Marlies Dumbsky (born 1985), from the German wine region of Franconia, was the 2008/09 German Wine Queen.Franconian wine region. The Wine Princesses during her twelve-month reign were Christl Schäfer (

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Province of Hohenzollern, Hohenzollern, two other histo ...

) and Isabell Kindle (

Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in southern Germany. In earlier times it was considered to be on both sides of the Upper Rhine, but since the Napoleonic Wars, it has been considered only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Ba ...

). She is Germany's 61st Wine Queen.''Germany's 61st Wine Queen is Crowned''
at www.germanwineusa.com. Retrieved 14 February 2015 Sonja Christ was born on 1 October 1984 in Oberfell and comes from a Moselle country

vintner A winemaker or vintner is a person engaged in winemaking. They are generally employed by wineries or wine companies, where their work includes: *Cooperating with viticulturists *Monitoring the maturity of grapes to ensure their quality and to de ...

and innkeeping family. Her father, Alfred, is a

restaurateur A restaurateur is a person who opens and runs restaurants professionally. Although over time the term has come to describe any person who owns a restaurant, traditionally it refers to a highly skilled professional who is proficient in all aspe ...

, and her mother, Gabriele, runs the family

vineyard A vineyard ( , ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines. Many vineyards exist for winemaking; others for the production of raisins, table grapes, and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is kno ...

. Until a few years ago she was the fifth generation of her family to run an inn. In 2004/05, the vintner's daughter became the wine queen of her local village of Oberfell.''Sonja Christ ist Mosel-Weinkönigin''
at www.weinland-mosel.de. Retrieved 14 February 2015 In 2008 she became the

Moselle Wine Queen The Moselle Wine Queen (), until 2006 the Moselle-Saar-Ruwer Wine Queen (''Mosel-Saar-Ruwer-Weinkönigin''), is a young woman who is elected for a period of a year to represent the Moselle wine region. The first one was chosen in 1949. In the year ...

. Following her ''

Abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...

'' exams at the grammar school of Asterstein in

Koblenz Koblenz ( , , ; Moselle Franconian language, Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz'') is a German city on the banks of the Rhine (Middle Rhine) and the Moselle, a multinational tributary. Koblenz was established as a Roman Empire, Roman military p ...

, Sonja Christ studied

business economics Business economics is a field in applied economics which uses economic theory and quantitative methods to analyze business enterprises and the factors contributing to the diversity of organizational structures and the relationships of firms wit ...

from 2003 to 2008 with particular emphasis on marketing and organisation at the

University of Mannheim The University of Mannheim (German: ''Universität Mannheim''), abbreviated UMA, is a public university, public research university in Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1967, the university has its origins in the ''Palatine Aca ...

and spent a term at the ESC Grenoble (France) graduating with a business diploma. As well as her native language of German, she also speaks fluent English, French and Italian. Since Feb 2009 she has worked as a head wine taster at the wine magazine ''selection'' in

Mainz Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...

. Following her appointment as the German Wine Queen she became the ambassador of German wine-growers and their products in a programme of 250 appearances in Germany and abroad during the year that followed. From 2018-2022 she worked as research assistant at the

University of Koblenz and Landau The University of Koblenz and Landau () was a German public university located in Koblenz and Landau, Rhineland-Palatinate, which primarily focused on teacher education. After starting to reform its teacher education in the 1960s, Rhineland-Pa ...

and has completed a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

there. Since 2022, she is a professor for

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. Pu ...

at the Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Christ, Sonja German wine 1984 births Living people People from Rhineland-Palatinate German Wine Queens