German Wines?

There is no particular etiquette, just order what you want.

The wine industry in Germany is completely different. Stand-alone wine estates, like in Italy or California, are either very rare or non-existent. Instead, the grapes are grown on small individually leased plots of land. The growers usually take their grapes to a collective in town, and the wine is often sold under the town label. Because the vineyards are on public access land, anyone can walk through them along the right-of-way trails. The individual towns may or may not have a Weingut where you can sample and purchase the wines. Otherwise, they simply ship them to the grocery stores. You won't find anything like a manor house on a private estate.

Rothenburg odT really isn't in wine country, although there's probably growers in the vicinity. The wine regions of Bavaria are a little further north around Würzburg and further east in the Oberpfaltz district.

Before our month long trip to the Rhine and Moselle area I bought "A Traveller's Wine Guide to Germany" by Kerry Brady Stewart. Even though I think it's out of print, there a few inexpensive copies available on Amazon.

We found this book to be really helpful on that trip and subsequent trips to other areas of Germany. The book is full of great basic information about the different wine growing regions. It has great pictures and ideas for touring these area, visiting estate wineries and sampling wine. Two caveats, since it is out of print the contact information is dated and as Tom mentioned, most of the wine growing regions are north or west of Bavaria. One wine you will run into often in German restaurants is a white wine served in a traditional bumpy green stemmed glasses, a Franken region wine.

Tip: if you spell your search incorrectly on Amazon you'll find the inexpensive versions of this book not the $32 version but the .49 cent versions. Spell traveller's with only one L.

We toured and tasted at a cooperative winery in Weinstadt Beutelsbach, in the Remstal wine region just east of Stuttgart.

This is on the Remstal Wine Route, not within 1-2 hours of Rothenburg o.d. Tauber, but maybe a region that could be added to your itinerary if you are interested in exploring German wines.

http://www.remstal-route.de

Here is a thread from Tripadvisor with more general information on Baden-Württemberg and wines:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g187276-i703-k3772404-Wineries-Baden_Wurttemberg.html

In my experience, German wines tend to drift towards the sweet side, especially if you prefer a dry chardonnay or a cabernet, so as long as you have no issue with sweetness, then aking for the house wine, or something local will be fine. In any restaurant or bar though, there will be plenty of non-German wines on offer so if you prefer a dryer wine, ask, and they will point you in the right direction.

Hi,

Even if you want to do some experimenting with German wine, look for "Qualitätswein mit Prädikat" on the label. You can be sure it's good, red or white. If you really want good sweet white wine, when the grapes are not picked until October, look for both "Spätauslese" and "Qualitätswein mit Prädikat" on the label.

When we have ordered house wine in Germany we have been asked if we want dry ( Trocken) or not. We do, and what we get has always been quite nice.

just ask for something "local" and be surprised.

I'n not sure I understand the point of going to a winery for a wine tasting unless you are going to buy cases of wine and want to pick what you like. In 2008, I spent some time on the Mosel and did a wine tasting at Rademacher in Cochem. He gave me four small glasses of wine, two vintages each of two white varieties. I tasted them and decided which one I liked - so what? The day before I ate in a small restaurant below the Doktor vineyard in Bernkastel. I tried a Riesling at lunch, then another variety of white wine. followed by a Beerenauslese (!) as an after dinner drink. I think I learned more from that experience than I did at the winery.

Oh, at a winery they give you smaller glasses so you can try more.

"want to plan a visit or two to German winery/vineyards within an hour or two from RodT. I will be driving"

Does anyone else see a problem with this statement?

In thinking of Bavaria I think more of Bier than Wein.

That said, I enjoy good sweet wines, Rieslings etc more than cheap french reds. However, be aware that German wine lables have specific meanings. Re: "...look for "Qualitätswein mit Prädikat" on the label." German "quality" refers more to sugar content at time of picking (i.e. ripeness). Sugar translates through the fermentation process to alcohol with residual sweetness being the bonus of a German white wine.

QUALITÄTSWEIN (QbA)
- Quality Wine-
These wines have to obey the regional appellation laws and are tested for compliance by an official committee just like quality wine with attribute and subsequently receive an AP-Number, which table wine does not need to be sold. These laws ensure that the wine is from one specific wine-growing region, is made of approved grape varieties and reached sufficient ripeness for a quality wine. Nevertheless, these wines are chaptalized (chaptalization: sugar is added to the juice before fermentation to increase the alcohol level after fermentation. Chaptalization is commonly used in all wine producing regions of the world). The chaptalization adds body to these otherwise lighter wines and makes them great simple food wines, enjoyable on a day-to-day basis also by themselves or as spritzers (mixed with Club Soda).

PRÄDIKATSWEIN
- Wine with Special Attributes -
The German wine law refers to the following category as Prädikatswein (previously referred to as Qualitätswein mit Prädikat); representing graduating ripeness levels, which are in ascending order: Kabinett, Spätlese, Auslese, BA, and TBA. These wines are all naturally produced, no chaptalization.

Quoted notes from:
http://www.germanwineestates.com/understanding_german_wine_labels.htm

Adding to my above note:

"chaptalization" not allowed by German quality standards means that adding sugar to the grape juice is not allowed unlike french rules. The term "chaptalization" comes from the french practice of dosing their grape juice with sugar to increase the alcohol of low sugar grapes:

Chaptalization is the process of adding sugar to unfermented grape
must in order to increase the alcohol content after fermentation. The
technique is named after its developer, the French chemist
Jean-Antoine-Claude Chaptal. This process is not intended to make the
wine sweeter, but rather to provide more sugar for the yeast to
ferment into alcohol. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaptalization

It's interesting that in California, producers are like the Germans, not allowed to add sugar. However, California wine makers are allowed to add acid while the french winemakers are not allowed to add acid.

Marti, although they are very rarely found in the US (at least most places I've looked) there are German red wines and they are worth trying if you come across them. I had a red spaetburgunder from Oberpfalz about 20 years ago, that is my white whale.

Actually Bavaria produces some good white wines, in the northern area around Bamberg, the district known as Franconia. They tend to be dry and somewhat mineral in taste. They are generally sold in specially-shaped chunky bottles known as Bocksbeutel.

You can read all about Franconian wines here:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franconia_(wine_region)#Description_of_the_Franconian_wine

Now see if you can figure out the origin of the name Bocksbeutel.

And regarding reds, the Remstal region I mentioned above produces some nice red wines.

Germany makes plenty of reds, but exports almost none. I'm not a huge fans of reds, but I liked the German specimens I tried. Generally far less dry and tannic tasting than Italians.

German wines found in North America tend to be on the sweet side, that's true. However, in Germany you will find that most Rieslings are actually dry. I miss those here! In Rothenburg, we had a Franken with dinner - a very dry white wine that comes in special bottles. Definitely one to try.

Beatrix---we too like the dry Franconia wines. Almost like a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc---do you like those?

BC produces some very nice white wines but you are right about the sweetish Rieslings. We choose something drier, and there is an Okanogan winery we really like but I cannot think of the name. I better figure it out, as we are spending a week on Vancouver Island in August and will want to have some wine.

Sorry for the diversion, Marti. Carry on. . . .

In Rothenburg, we had a Franken with dinner - a very dry white wine that comes in special bottles.

Looked Franken wine up in my very dated Johnson "World Atlas of Wine". Franken comes from the region near Würzburg (east of Franfurt) and is made from the Silvaner grape, a white.

http://www.winefornormalpeople.com/silvaner-another-white-grape-of-germany/
Excerps follow:

Silvaner: Another White Grape of Germany

Silvaner is a white grape that used to be the darling of Germany.
Migrating from the Austrian Empire (of which Transylvania was part) to
Germany and then to Alsace, France, this old grape was recorded in
Deutschland as early as 1659 by the Castell Estate,in Franken (more on
the region below).....

It’s a weird grape. It’s super neutral. At it’s best it’s light with
some honeysuckle, honeydew, pear, and sometimes basil or fresh herb
flavor and a good dose of salty mineral tang. Unlike the enamel
busting acidity in Riesling, it’s a pretty chill grape in terms of
mouthwatering tartness. It’s weak point: if it’s allowed to grow out
of control, it tastes like alcoholic lemon water…And grow out of
control it did.

And they better do Silvaner well, because they can’t really grow
Riesling here — the cold winters and long dry summers don’t work for
grapes that ripen late, and that’s Riesling (it needs a long, moderate
growing season to do its thing).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franconia_(wine_region)

Franconia (German: Franken) is a region for quality wine in Germany
situated in the north west of Bavaria in the district of Franconia,
and is the only wine region in the federal state of Bavaria. In 2014,
vines were grown on 6,176 hectares (15,260 acres) of land in the
region.

For Bavaria I like Franken Wein found along the Main River region. This is not too famous outside the region. It is generally lighter than the Rhine/Mosel wines and not many red wines. Franken Wein is famous for being bottled in the Bocksbeutel shaped bottle. One of my favorite little towns is Prichsenstadt. I have been buying wine from Winzer Kessler for years. No special reason other than I like it. You can get a great wine tasting here too and you will have to climb out of the cellar if you are not careful: http://www.winzerhof-kessler.de/ You could also visit Volkach. Iphofen is in this region too. One of my friends buys his Wein from Winzer Emmerich just outside Iphofen: http://www.weingut-emmerich.de/ With a car you can drive along the Main River with many many Weingut & Winzerhof to visit. There is a nice beer garden at Schloss Hallburg. The view from Vogelsburg is also very nice. June would be at the end of the Spargel (white asparagus) season, but you might find some. Franken Wein, Spargel with ham, boiled potatoes and hollandaise sauce, Yum!

http://www.prichsenstadt.de/
http://www.weinrestaurant-schlosshallburg.de/
http://www.vogelsburg-volkach.de/
http://www.germanwine.de/english/germanwineregions/wineregionfranken/

No one wants to take a stab at the origin/meaning of the special Franken wine bottle---Bocksbeutel?

Let me guess, putting together the terms. "Bochs" is the genitive form of "ram", "Beutel" means "bag" or some kind of container. So... a certain part of the ram's anatomy that a ewe doesn't have?

I'd add that if you are visiting wineries in Franconia it would be a crime not to visit at least one of the many excellent breweries in the region. Franconia has the highest concentration of breweries anywhere in the world. It's been my experience that most don't do official tours like you might expect. Instead, you stop by, have a beer and ask if the can show you around. Most breweries in the region are more than happy to give visitors an informal tour.

My personal favorite is Gräfenberg.

DJ

Tom---correct!

More about origin/meaning of the special Franken wine bottle---Bocksbeute.

From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bocksbeutel

There are two conflicting claims of the origin of the name
Bocksbeutel, although the Beutel-part stands for "container" in both
cases.

One claim is that it is derived from the Low German term Booksbüdel,
which stands for a small sack used to protect and carry books, in
particular prayer books or song books carried on travels (see girdle
books). These sacks were used already in pre-Reformation times, but
became eventually outdated and were seen as a whimsical expression of
overly conservative behavior. Another claim is that the term actually
means "ram's scrotum", which is supposed to be of similar shape as the
bottle. This explanation is given as early as 1690 in a dictionary by
Kaspar von Stieler. The term Bokesbudel with this meaning is said to
have existed in the Early Middle Age, before song books were used.

However, the explanations are not mutually exclusive. Franconia is
well distant from the Low German-speaking lands, and a term like
Booksbüdel would not normally have been understood there. If the Low
German term was adopted in Franconia, any similar local words are
likely to have influenced this process.

There is a later expression einen Bocksbeutel anhängen ("to attach a
Bocksbeutel [to someone]"), meaning "to make someone an object of
ridicule", attested in the 19th-century Deutsches Wörterbuch. A
physical Bocksbeutel was indeed used as a practical joke (cf. the
"Kick me" prank, cuckold horns and other forms of public humiliation
such as "donkey ears"), but a wine bottle is an unlikely object to use
for such a purpose. Both a Booksbüdel and a ram's scrotum are
perfectly suitable, being small and light objects with a connotation
of ridiculousness. Thus, it is hard to determine to what extent either
Booksbüdel or Bokesbudel or both contributed to the modern term.

Edgar---your search led you to the only website I could find that explains the meaning of the word Bocksbeutel to English-speakers. Germans, of course, know what it means, as do those of us (like Tom) who understand German.

I learned this meaning almost 50 years ago when I was a student in the Baden-Würtemburg region. The local winemakers loved to make fun of the Franken wines in their "ram scrotum" bottles. I think the guy who explained the meaning to our group took great pleasure in embarrassing us ( the young women).

Back to responding to Marti's question about visiting Bavarian wineries/vineyards. I think of the mountain area (alps and foothills) boarding the Czech Republic and Austria when I think of Bavaria but Würzburg is within Bavaria even if only the northwestern edge of Bavaria. The Johnson Wine Atlas includes Franconia as an important German wine region even if it is not the more noted Mosel/Rhine wine regions. Here is the City's TI page on wine:
http://www.wuerzburg.de/en/visitors/wine-and-franconian-wine-country/index.html

Würzburg and Wine – these two are inextricably intertwined. Wine in
all its varieties rules this town. This is the perfect place to enjoy
a great wine, go hiking, take a winery tour and experience our wine
culture, indulge in great food, or take leisure walks; come experience
what the city and nature have to offer here.

Our version of joie de vivre spells wine festival! For a close-up
experience of the people of Franconia, visit one of the many wine
festivals in Würzburg and the surrounding Franconian Wine Country.

Or can we recommend a cellar tour and wine tasting? You will not be
disappointed. Take a look behind the scenes at the Juliusspital
Winery, the Bürgerspital Winery, or the Staatlicher Hofkeller...

If you would rather explore where the wine grows, take a walk through
the world-famous appellation Würzburger Stein. You can get information
from the Stein-Wein-Pfad e. V.externer Link, the local Stein Trail
Club.

One can put one's coins in a "Geldbeutel"

Thanks to all of you who took the time to reply to my query. I will read more about German wines and I thank you for including links, guidance, and your own personal preferences. I definitely will take your advice, especially when it comes to ordering the local wine in restaurants. I like surprises.

And for sure I will be drinking plenty of beer in Bavaria! No question.

Cheers!

Apparently nobody but you and I, Lee.