WTN: A German red

[Brad Ballinger]

Too long, in fact, to fit into both "topic title" and "topic description" fields, combined.

2002 Württembergische Weingartner-Zentralgenossenschaft Horrheimer Stromberg Trollinger mit Lemberger Trocken QbA, Württemburg. Okaaaaay. The first three words (I’m counting the hyphenated one as two words) is the name of a wine producing co-operative in the Württemberg wine region in southern Germany. The rest should be fairly typical of German wine labels – Horreheim is the village, Stromberg the vineyard, Trollinger and Lemberger the grape varieties, Trocken means dry, QbA is a notch below the pradikat wines that carry the designations kabinett, spatlese, etc., on the label (QbA wines carry no such designation), and I’ve already mentioned Württemberg. And, for those who care, the A.P. number is 00121503. Now, onto the wine…

The trollinger grape is probably the most widely planted black grape (if not grape of any color) in the Württemberg region. For this bottle, it was blended with lemberger, but I don’t know what percentage of either is in this blend. I chilled the wine slightly before serving. The wine is characteristically light and fruity. The color is rather light. Put more brick and less pink in a dark rosé wine, and you’re pretty close. For those who’ve had wines from the grignolino grape, it’s similar in color to those wines, if not a bit lighter. The nose promises a light, fruity, and floral wine. There were aromas of wild strawberry and white cranberry in a floral package. On the palate, it comes across as light and playful. It’s fruity, mildly acidic, and not terribly complex. Immediately, it conjured up the image of a picnic in a meadow in the middle of nowhere. And, truly, it struck me as the quintessential picnic wine that would go with damn near anything one would put in a picnic basket.

The wine was a gift from a German co-worker. I don’t know how widely this particular wine is distributed outside of Germany, but I post this note to encourage you to try a wine made from trollinger should you get the chance. And bring it on a picnic.

[pirate]

Brad Ballinger: Your post reminded me of the impossibilty of getting certain German wines. About five years ago I vacationed in Baden-Wuerttemberg and Alsace. I have mentioned the spaetburgunder weissherbsts in a post on ros\'es. Actually I first came upon those wines in Garmisch-Partenkirchen which is in Bavaria. But let me get back to German red wines. I stopped in Freiberg at a wine store and looked at their selection.

They didn't have the wine of a grower whose wine I had drunk at a restaurant in Traube-Tonbach. The proprieter recommended another wine from the Kaiserstuhl. It was a spaetburgunder of the Winzergenossenschaft Sasbach am Kaiserstuhl - a 1997 Sasbacher Lutzelberg Auslese. A qualitatswein mit pradikat trocken. which had won a Goldener Preis Extra. I bought one bottle (alas) and brought it home and drank it in 2001. The wine was the equal of the best Chambertin I've drunk. I tried to find the wine in the USA and failed. I was told by a friend in Freiberg that the demand in Germany for the wines is so great that they are not exported.

[Jason Perlow]

Wow. Thats rediculously Teutonic sounding.

[pirate]

And I notice that I didn't account for all the umlauts.

[Brad Ballinger]

Brad Ballinger: Your post reminded me of the impossibilty of getting certain German wines. About five years ago I vacationed in Baden-Wuerttemberg and Alsace. I have mentioned the spaetburgunder weissherbsts in a post on ros\'es. Actually I first came upon those wines in Garmisch-Partenkirchen which is in Bavaria. But let me get back to German red wines. I stopped in Freiberg at a wine store and looked at their selection.

They didn't have the wine of a grower whose wine I had drunk at a restaurant in Traube-Tonbach. The proprieter recommended another wine from the Kaiserstuhl. It was a spaetburgunder of the Winzergenossenschaft Sasbach am Kaiserstuhl - a 1997 Sasbacher Lutzelberg Auslese. A qualitatswein mit pradikat trocken. which had won a Goldener Preis Extra. I bought one bottle (alas) and brought it home and drank it in 2001. The wine was the equal of the best Chambertin I've drunk. I tried to find the wine in the USA and failed. I was told by a friend in Freiberg that the demand in Germany for the wines is so great that they are not exported.

I hate to boil it down to the laws of supply and demand, but that is part of it. As far as German wines and Italian wines are concerned (and probably any other country) there are such a small percentage that get exported. And I don't expect to see that increase (to the U.S. at any rate) any time soon with the strength of the euro against the dollar.

I was in the Pfalz last October, and brought back a handful of spatburgunder wines only because I never see them here. Some were pradikat wines and others were QbA wines. I also brought back a wine made from dornfelder that is quite luscious. And I probably brought back more weissburgunder (pinot blanc) than I did riesling.

On a pseudo-related matter, we are starting to see some Austrian reds come into many regions of the U.S. Some are priced a bit high that it will be tough to "introduce" people to them. But for those who've had them and know how incredibly food friendly they are, this is good news.

[pirate]

Brad Ballinger quote: On a pseudo-related matter, we are starting to see some Austrian reds come into many regions of the U.S. Some are priced a bit high that it will be tough to "introduce" people to them. But for those who've had them and know how incredibly food friendly they are, this is good news.

My favorite everyday red wine is Zweigelt. Umathon exports and I can buy it locally on occasion. My favorite restaurant in Vienna has it and it's always in top condition. There is an Austrian pinot blanc sold locally which I haven't purchased.

[Brad Ballinger]

Umathum is one of the producers I had in mind when posting my comment on Austrian reds. And their wines can be had for $15 here give or take a couple dollars.

Here's a note from the 2001 Umathum Zweigelt I tasted many months ago...

2001 J. Umathum Zweigelt, Burgenland – $15. Zweigelt is a hybrid cross of St. Laurent and Blaufrankisch. This wine is a terrific food partner, and very good for the money. A little grapey on the nose with some of that “I just got done fermenting” character. But it is quickly joined by a healthy dose of black pepper. One the palate there is tart fruit, spice, pepper, ebullient acid. The wine seems to be at play in the mouth and it finishes clean with moderate length. Very nice.

Heinrich also makes some good reds. The Blaufrankisch was particularly nice.

[pirate]

Brad Bollinger: Thanks for correcting the spelling of Umathum. I only recently started looking at the wine forum and wasn't aware of your earlier post. My interest in Zweigelt was aroused an a bitter cold night in Berlin. We were staying at the Bristol Kempinski and just around the corner on the Kantstrasse was an Austrian wine bar. Well, we were returning from a performance of the Mozart's "Magic Flute" at the Deutsche Oper and hungry. This was 1996 or so. We stopped at this wine bar and had a dish of spaetzle with onions and cheese. I ordered a large glass (2 deciliters) of Zweigelt and was instantaneously impressed. On subsequent visits to Vienna, we found this excellent winebar-restaurant in Vienna which had Umathum half-bottles on their list: all the vintages were excellent. This really belongs on the dal Forno post but I had a 1995 Dal Forno Valpolicella Superiore yesterday. It was excellent. Smooth, harmonious and a nice long finish. I don't smoke so no allusions to tobacco.

[drjonk]

Not knowing where any of you are loacted I can make a suggestion of a couple of places that sell a particually great Spatburgunder from a excellent producer in Rhein. Weingut & Sektgut Ratzenberger in Bacharacher in the mittelrhein. The wine is available for sale at Moore Brothers Wine Co with two locations just outside Philadelphia www.moorebrothers.com You can also try Teller Wines in Lewis, De and Princeton Corkscrew in Princeton, NJ. The wine sells for $17 and is on the wine list at Felidia in New york City. It has all the classic feel of German Spatburgunder, bright mineral tone from the black and bluse devonshire slate of the area, but nice soft round cherry fruit. I hope this helps someone.

jk