With a vineyard area of about 400 ha and nearly four million vines, Zell (Mosel) is one of the largest wine-growing communities on the Mosel. The most famous vineyard is the "Zeller Schwarze Katz" (black cat). The wines that come from it are known worldwide because of their unique quality and wholesomeness. The secret of the "Zeller Schwarze Katz" begins in 1863, when wine merchants were out and about in Zell. After an extensive wine tasting at the winery, three barrels were on the shortlist. But they couldn't quite agree on which was the best.
Suddenly the cat jumped onto one of the barrels, made a hunchback and hissed at anyone who tried to approach the barrel. The merchants quickly agreed and decided that the black cat was so persistently guarding on the wine barrel. A short time later, the same merchants came back to Zell and bought all the wines from the same vineyard as the one in the barrel so fiercely defended by the cat because this wine had sold like hot cakes. The vineyard in which this wine was grown was eventually named "Zeller Schwarze Katz".
By the way: even today, more than 80% of the wine from Zell is exported, for example, to Japan, the USA, Canada or South America. It repeatedly achieves high awards, both at the state and national level. Zell's citizens have created a worthy monument to their world-famous wine from the "Zeller Schwarze Katz" vineyard with the "Zeller Schwarze Katz-Brunnen" (black cat fountain).