All about Wine

Wurttemberg is the only area in Germany to grow the late maturing Trollinger grapes, a variety that demands deep and nutritious soil, steeply sloping sites, together with generous rainfall between blossoming and grape maturity.

In the course of centuries, the Trollinger has developed into a popular Wurttemberg speciality and is thus considered the national drink of Swabians. A wine of hearty character, it is enjoyed with the solid and robust local meals.

Be it a Swabian snack or a special Sunday meal, perhaps a ragout of Schurwald angus beef in its lovely Trollinger sauce, served with vegetables and the potato speciality known as Schupfnudeln, Trollinger will complement all kinds of good food.

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An early maturing grape and almost a rarity is the Clevner which originally comes from the Pinot/Burgunder family of vines.

It was originally brought to the region by French monks as far back as the 8th Century and contributed to the renoun of the Neckar Valley’s wines.

Nowadays, Clevner is cultivated around the Heilbronn region where it is carefully nurtured with much love and attention, even though yields are low. It produces fine wines of a beautiful, subdued red colour, tender bouquet and full body.

The Samrot is a mutation of the Schwarzriesling which it ressembles in character. Its fine acidity lends it a dignified elegance; Samtrot literally translates as “red velvet”. This is a festive wine par excellence.

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In contrast to red wine, Weissherbst is made by gently pressing red grapes after destalking allowing only very little of the red pigments into the juice. The result is a delicately coloured light red wine which is a cross between a red and a white.

Weissberbst must be made from one single grape variety which gives the wine a taste all of its own with a great deal of character suitable for drinking on a wide variety of occasions. In principle any red variety grown in Wurttemberg can be vinified as Weissherbst.

The classic local fish dish of char and octopus served with a lemon butter sauce will partner Weissherbst made from Schwarzriesling particularly well.

Schillerwein is a veritable Warttemberg speciality which is produced exclusively from grapes grown in Wurttemberg.

The history of pressing red and white grapes together goes back many centuries and traditionally any grape can be used. This means that Schillerwein is a multi-faceted style which offers many different, yet harmonious flavours

Generally the style is light and fresh making the wine well suited to many dishes such as pockets of veal stuffed with leeks and served with a sage sauce — a traditional local speciality of italian origin.

On a different level Schillerwein is excellent as a summer drink mixed with cool mineral water served as a thirst quencher on very warm days.

The Schwarzriesling originates from the Pinot/Burgunder family of vines and has been cultivated in Wurttemberg for centuries.

Due to its early maturing it is less demanding than Trollinger and Lemberger.

The colour is a luminescent red with delicate bouquet and harmonious fruit which makes the Schwarzriesling very popular.

Schwarzriesling is best served with cuisine such as pot roast like wild duckling where the grape’s qualities show the typical flavours of cooked meat at their best by complementing the red wine sauce, red wine vinegar or juices of the bones.

This vine has a very old tradition in Wurttemberg and is considered a speciality from some of the best situated sites.

The wine is usually of a golden yellow hue, with an exquisitely fine and fruity aroma with a complex flavour of different fruits on the palate with wonderful body.

A glass of Spatlese or Auslese Gewurztraminer is best enjoyed in Wurttemberg with Gugelhupf, a dry cake baked in a specially shaped mould.

The versatility of Gewurztraminer is shown by its adaptability to partner desserts which are either sweet or with fresh fruit flavours.

A good Muller-Thurgau thrives most of all in deep, rich soils.

An early maturing grape and wine it has a distinct bouquet and often a marked touch of nutmeg. It is particularly pleasant when consumed young.

A discreetly fruity wine, it complements most hors d’oevres and soups. Muller-Thurgau is delightful with Biberach Soup, a delectable creamy late night soup of calves’ sweetbread, but will go equally well with desserts and sorbets.

This wine has the dual ability to open a meal and be drunk at the end too. In particularly sunny years the early-maturing Muller-Thurgau will make high quality Pradikat wines which are ideal served as an aperitif.

The Kerner is a typical Wurttemberg wine. Bred from Trollinger and Riesling vines by the Wurttemberg Experimental and Teaching Institute of Wine and Fruit Growing at Weinsberg, it is named after the local poet, physician and venophile Justinus Kerner.

Well adapted to local sites and soil, it develops a fine, spicy fruit typical of the variety. It produces a full-bodied wine with fine, racy acidity which it inherites from the Riesling and which gives very good Pradikat wine.

The variety is very versatile and has many of he characteristics of Riesling to which it is often compared.

The dry styles are at their best with foods such as white meats, poultry and fish particularly so if the sauce is created with the same wine.

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The late maturing Riesling is Germany’s most demanding and most famous white wine variety and holds a place of honour in Wurttemberg.

Cultivated on the heavy local soils of keuper and shell limestone and always in prime sites, this variety produces wines full of character and of many varied tastes.

These wines excel with their discreet bouquet and delicately fruited flavour, crisp acidity and dignified class, frequently even sparkling elegance.

Riesling is suited, therefore, to accompanying meals from hors d’oevres through to fish. It is also a wine that is superb with seafood such as mussels, clams, oysters and lobster.

Truly a wine which meets the highest expectations at any occasion.

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The Lemberger, too needs optimum sites to thrive and therefore its cultivation is limited.

This grape produces wines deep in colour, full-bodied and delicately dry which puts it among the elite of grapes. It is in its element at the gourmet’s table.

Lemberger accompanies lamb, hare, venison or a saddle of young wild boar particularly well and especially so if the dishes are prepared with exotic sauces, but also if the accompaniement is as simple as a side dish of freshly picked local mushrooms.

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The Dornfelder represents the youngest grape type of all Wurttemberg’s varieties. It was created by the Wurttemberg School of Viticulture at Weinsberg by crossing Helfensteiner and Heroidrebe vines.

The big, blue bunches produce full-bodied red wines of a wonderfully intense colour. The Dornfelder is well suited to vinification in small, new oak barrique casks. With cuisine, it goes particularly well with poultry, venison and lamb.

There is a culinary tradition that says the wine used in the sauce should accompany the dish at table.

If this is true, there is nothing better than savouring a glass of Dornfrlder with a breast of pheasant in a Dornfelder sauce together with broccoli and fried potatoe wafers.

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The Silvaner is a grape variety with a long tradition in Wurttemberg. When grown on shell limestone soils, it aquires a particularly fine bouquet, but it will also thrive on heavier keuper soils.

The Silvaner makes wine which is mellow and wonderfully balanced making it very attractive. Like any good wine, it pays to sip and linger over the flavours. A connoisseur will savour with the eyes, nose and mouth by holding the glass up to the light and swirling the wine gently in the glass to liberate aroma and fragrance.

Finally the bouquet will be noted, the wine sipped and tasted , by “chewing” it to introduce the maximum flavour to the gustatory nerves of the tongue, palate and throat which will give the taster the full panoply of flavours available in the wine.

The Rulander, also known as Graner Burgunder is well suited to warm, deep soils.

Wines labelled Rulander are produced in a classic style typical of the variety giving a richness, power and complexity of subtile flavours unrivalled elswhere. These wines can however partner light summer dishes or salads such as composition of heart,  kidneys, liver, brains and sweetbread revealing the wines’ delicate power.

Wines which are made in a lighter style from this grape are often labelled Grauer Burgunder and can have a light and elegant structure with more acidity making them ideal for poultry and fish.