| If you are hankering for some fine German wine | | | | imported cheeses that we were lucky enough to |
| and food, you should take a look at the | | | | purchase at a local wine store and a local Italian |
| Rheinhessen region of southwestern Germany. | | | | food store, here are a few suggestions of what |
| Who knows, you may even find a bargain, and I | | | | to eat with indigenous wines when touring this |
| think that you'll enjoy yourself on this fact-filled | | | | beautiful region. Start with Zweibelkuchen (Onion |
| wine education tour in which we review a local red | | | | Pie). For your second course enjoy Haxen und |
| Dornfelder. | | | | Bratkartoffeln (Pork Hocks and Home Fries). As a |
| Rheinhessen is a relatively small area, sometimes | | | | dessert indulge yourself with Frankfurter Kranz |
| called the land of the thousand hills, nestled | | | | (Buttercream Cake). |
| between the Rhine and the Nahe Rivers. It | | | | OUR WINE REVIEW POLICY All wines that we |
| already was known for its wines in the days of | | | | taste and review are purchased at the full retail |
| Charlemagne. To some extent it is famous or | | | | price. |
| infamous for Liebfraumilch, to be reviewed in | | | | Wine Reviewed Rappenhof Dornfelder Trocken |
| another article in this series. It is the German | | | | 2004 13.0% alcohol about $15.50 |
| region with both the largest area planted in wine | | | | Let's start by quoting the marketing materials. |
| grapes and the highest wine production. | | | | Dornfelder is a cross, bred in 1956 by August |
| Rheinhessen alone claims over a quarter of the | | | | Herold. In its genealogy, the grape claims every |
| German wine acreage and wine production. It is | | | | important red vine grown in Germany. |
| also produces the highest percentage of generally | | | | Fortunately, it has inherited most of the positive |
| low quality table wine, coming in at almost 12%. | | | | attributes and very few of the negative. The |
| More than 60% of Rheinhessen wine is middle | | | | wines are deeply coloured, velvety in texture with |
| quality QbA wine, and a bit more than 25% is | | | | hints of floral. Slightly off-dry, this example gives |
| higher quality QmP wine. About seven of eight | | | | good aroma replays on the palate. Serve with |
| bottles contain white wine, but the percentage of | | | | Wiener schnitzel. Now for the review. (By the |
| red wine is increasing. The most widely grown | | | | way, I found its color more of a dark rose.) |
| varieties are the German hybrid Mueller-Thurgau | | | | My first pairing was with a barbecued, marinated |
| and Silvaner. The usually higher quality Riesling | | | | rib steak with potato patties, potato wedges, and |
| represents about 10% of the total production. | | | | a commercially prepared eggplant and tomato side |
| Dornfelder is the most widely planted red grape | | | | dish. The wine was very short with moderate |
| variety. The marketing materials, quoted below, | | | | fruit when imbibed with the meat and potatoes. It |
| present one viewpoint of this German-bred grape. | | | | crept back into the woodwork when faced with a |
| Mainz has a population of about eighty thousand. | | | | fairly powerful eggplant dish. |
| It is one of the centers of the German wine | | | | The next tasting involved a cheeseless broccoli, |
| trade. It is the state capital of Rheinland-Pfalz | | | | mushroom, and zucchini quiche with mashed |
| which is the only German state government with | | | | potatoes. The Dornfelder tasted sour and I |
| a wine minister. The city is built on the site of a | | | | sensed some sort of strange fruit in the |
| two thousand year-old Roman citadel. In this part | | | | background. I finished the glass with beer nuts. |
| of the world two thousand years is a short time; | | | | The wine was fairly flat but its sourness |
| a local museum contains three hundred thousand | | | | disappeared. |
| year-old artifacts. In season the Marktplatz | | | | The final meal consisted of meatballs in a tomato |
| (Market) and Höfchen (Little Courtyard) buzz | | | | sauce with rice and green beans. The wine was |
| with farmers selling their wares on Tuesday, | | | | somewhat rounder than before but was still ever |
| Friday, and Saturday. Check the exact dates for | | | | so short. I thought I was drinking an alcoholic fruit |
| the annual Sektfest (Sparkling Wine Festival) held | | | | juice. |
| in late May or early June and then Johannisnacht, | | | | The initial cheese pairing was with a French goat |
| another wine festival several weeks later. | | | | cheese that really resembled a Camembert. While |
| Other sites to see include the Dom (Cathedral of | | | | the wine was a bit flat it did taste lightly of black |
| St. Martin and St. Stephan) which broke ground | | | | cherries. Then I went to a Swiss Gruyere. The |
| shortly prior to the turn of the first millennium. | | | | Dornfelder became somewhat more robust but |
| Because of seven fires most of the Cathedral is | | | | the fruit was less distinctive. I finished the bottle |
| newer, dating from the Eleventh to the Thirteenth | | | | with a local, fairly sharp Asiago cheese that I |
| Centuries. The cloisters contain a museum of | | | | prefer to its presumably more authentic Italian |
| religious artifacts. Right near by is the Gutenberg | | | | cousin. Finally a decent pairing; the wine was |
| Museum. Other local museums are devoted to the | | | | pleasant. |
| Middle Ages, Roman warships, art, plants, animals, | | | | Final verdict. I didn't plan to be reviewing two |
| and fossils. If all this touring makes you thirsty for | | | | Dornfelders in such short order. But we don't get |
| more than knowledge visit the Kupferberg | | | | many of them in our neck of the woods so I |
| Sektkellerei (sparkling wine cellars), the deepest on | | | | figured why not give it a try. There certainly |
| earth. There are several concert halls, theaters, | | | | won't be a third round in the near future. I fail to |
| night clubs, and wine bars. Not far from the city | | | | see why such a grape should cost more than |
| are the Mainz Sand Dunes, a tiny area home to | | | | many better grapes from German and other |
| plants and animals rarely seen in Western Europe. | | | | countries. Of course, if I had liked the wine... |
| Before reviewing the Rheinhessen wine and | | | | |