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