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Württemberg

WÜRTTEMBERG

This is one of Germany's most southerly wine-growing areas, and another one whose wines are seen all too rarely in the UK. The few that are occasionally seen are usually white - which is rather strange, and also a pity, because most of Württemberg's best wines are red (and pink), made from grape varieties such as the local specialities Trollinger (well-known here at home as Black Hamburg, a table grape), Lemberger (also called Blaufränkisch in Austria and Kékfrankos in Hungary, and not - contrary to some popular beliefs - the same as Gamay), Schwarzriesling (schwarz = black, but it's no relation - it's actually Pinot Meunier), etc. That is not to say that they don't produce excellent white wines as well: they do, of course, and we have some of them as well, including one of Germany's first Chardonnays!

Some of these red wines from Württemberg - especially Lemberger, given some bottle age - are wonderfully rich and full-bodied: the ideal antidote to all those die-hards who maintain that German red wine is but a pale imitation of the "real thing"! Watch out also for the two different kinds of pink (or "blush") wine: Weissherbst is a "blanc de noir" like Californian White Zinfandel; Schillerwein is a blend (perfectly legal in this area) of red and white, usually about 80/20%. And then there's the pink Lemberger Eiswein...!

Over 80% of Württemberg's wine is made and sold by co-operatives, as in the Hessische Bergstrasse; there are some independents, but they are few and far between. However, we have nothing against co-ops if they produce good wine, and we were particularly impressed when we discovered the Heuchelberg-Kellerei in Schwaigern, on the northeastern corner of the Württemberg wine-growing region. Sometimes one can go through a whole day's visiting and tasting and find any amount of wine which is perfectly acceptable and drinkable - but not special enough to write home about - and then suddenly, when the palate is jaded and the sun thinking about going down, you find wines whose quality shines through all the previous ordinariness; so it was with this co-op, at the end of a long, hard day nineteen years ago. These are by no means the cheapest wines around, but excellence is surely worth paying a bit extra for.

About ten years ago, like many of our other German suppliers, these people suddenly started making their own Sekt. They made four - two whites from Riesling, and two reds from Schwarzriesling (remember this is actually Pinot Meunier, which goes into much of the best Champagne), both colours available in Brut and Trocken versions - and they all won medals. Not just bronze medals, mind you, nor silver, nor even the gold award from the state chamber of commerce: each of the four won a DLG "Grosser Preis" - a sort of national "double gold". Not bad for starters, eh??

We have several new wines: new vintages of the local specialities Trollinger (which the locals quaff in quarter-litre tankards!) and Lemberger (which has a bit more body and sometimes ages well); late-hatvested versions of Schwarzriesling (nothing to do with Riesling - it’s actually Pinot Meunier, one of the Champagne grapes) and Samtrot (“velvet red”); two serious Rosés made from Lemberger and Schwarzriesling - perfect for summer quaffing - and a “first” for this producer: Pinot Noir “Blanc de Noirs” - a dry white wine from black grapes.

 

WINE NAME

YEAR

BOTTLES
 IN STOCK

PRICE PER BOT
INCL VAT

RED WINES

 

 

 

Schwaigerner Grafenberg Trollinger QbA

NEW VINTAGE NOW AVAILABLE!

2004
2005
2007

7
6
38

£7.00
£7.00
£7.50

Kleingartacher Grafenberg Lemberger QbA
NEW VINTAGE NOW AVAILABLE!

2004
2006

4
38

£7.50
£8.00

Kleingartacher Grafenberg Lemberger QbA Trocken

2004

9

£7.50

Schwaigerner Grafenberg Schwarzriesling Spätlese

2003

12

£8.50

Grossgartacher Grafenberg Samtrot  Auslese

2003

10

£10.00

 

 

 

 

PINK WINE

 

 

 

Schwaigerner Grafenberg Schwarzriesling Weissherbst QbA

2007

48

£7.50

Schwaigerner Grafenberg Lemberger Weissherbst QbA

2007

53

£8.00

 

 

 

 

WHITE WINES

 

 

 

NEW! Pinot Noir - Blanc de Noirs QbA Trocken

2007

40

£8.00

Schwaigerner Grafenberg Chardonnay QbA Trocken

1996

7

£5.00

 

STOCK LAST UPDATED 13 JANUARY 2009

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