WTN: Medieval German Red

Staatsweingut mit Johannitergut Neustadt Mußbacher Kurfürst Gänsfüßer Trocken QbA 2007 –Pfalz, Germany 13,0%


I’ve only ever read about this ancient grape, so when I saw it for sale, I bought it happily. Gänsfüßer (Geese Feet -named for the shape of its leaves) is an (at the least) five-hundred year old grape-vine that was once extensively planted in the Pfalz and in particular in and around Neustadt. It came very close to extinction, and if not for the fact that it became fashionable to plant it in home-gardens and Innenhöffe, it probably would have succumbed to that fate. It had both its admirers (Hieronymus Bock) and its detractors (the one time Palatinate elector Johann Casimir decreed that no new planting of Gänsfüßer would be allowed without newer vines planted along with it).

Leave it to the State-owned winery of Rheinland-Pfalz along with the agricultural college here to revive this variety in part to protect the cultural heritage of the region, and in part to make decidedly interesting wine.

Part of the project is to put a modern-spin on the wine, and so it was ‘im Holzfass gereift’ –in wood-barrels ripened (raised). I’m quite sure that they weren’t getting such deeply-colored, and richly-flavored red wines from the Medieval HRE, but it is a fascinating wine regardless.

Raspberries, sour-cherries, carob, braised venison, mint, rosemary, with vanilla, caramel, and toast oakiness (trying hard to look past that.) It doesn’t really taste like anything else, but the finish is (not surprisingly) more acid than tannin. I would like very much to see what this wine tastes like in neutral oak from a more average vintage. I’ll see if that’s possible.

Cheers,
Bill

Thanks for the notes Bill. I lovd reading about this kind of stuff.
I'm sorry if I may have missed it, but is the actual grape in the wine from a 500 year old grapevine?

Thanks for the notes Bill. I lovd reading about this kind of stuff.
I'm sorry if I may have missed it, but is the actual grape in the wine from a 500 year old grapevine?

As in planted in 1510? No, but that would've made for a much better tasting note! While there are certainly pre-phylloxera vines in Germany (mostly in the Mosel), the easily-accessed Kurfürst vineyard could have been reached damn quick via the A65 Autobahn or the Deutsche Weinstraße.

Cheers,
Bill

Hi Bill -

Thank you for the note and background on Gänsfüßer. I always enjoy reading about, and of course trying, any unusual grape varieties that I come across.

Interestingly, I checked the Vitis International Variety Catalog (http://www.vivc.de/index.php), and it has Gänsfüßer as a synonym for Argant, a grape that originated in Spain.

This wine could serve as a poster child for those that say the German naming conventions scare off the uninitiated! But this would be very interesting to try - maybe they will back off on the oak in an attempt to explore parameter space (and as they get more used barrels). Or maybe the oak is the best thing?

Hi Bill -

Thank you for the note and background on Gänsfüßer. I always enjoy reading about, and of course trying, any unusual grape varieties that I come across.

Interestingly, I checked the Vitis International Variety Catalog (http://www.vivc.de/index.php), and it has Gänsfüßer as a synonym for Argant, a grape that originated in Spain.

Hi Andrew,

I saw that too (did you get a look at those clusters?!) It would be fun to learn the story of the Gänsfüßer/Argant migration (I suppose it goes something like: 'bring it as far north as it'll ripen, young man!') I can't recall ever tasting the Spanish version and apparently it is one of the lesser grapes grown in the Jura too.

Cheers,
Bill

This wine could serve as a poster child for those that say the German naming conventions scare off the uninitiated! But this would be very interesting to try - maybe they will back off on the oak in an attempt to explore parameter space (and as they get more used barrels). Or maybe the oak is the best thing?

Hey Joe,

No doubt about the name scaring off the newbies -I should have spelled out Qualitätswein bestimmter Anbaugebiete! I doubt that lack of old-oak is a problem as the Johannitergut property (from the Order of Saint John) is the oldest winery in the Pfalz (going back to the 8th century.) I think that the oak is more about showing the duality of the winery, blending the traditional and the modern. But, I'm sure that there is a bottle or two raised in old-oak hiding out somewhere.

Cheers,
Bill

I should have spelled out Qualitätswein bestimmter Anbaugebiete!

I thought they were replacing QbA and QmP with Qualitätswein and Prädikatswein, respectively. Is this not to be?

I should have spelled out Qualitätswein bestimmter Anbaugebiete!

I thought they were replacing QbA and QmP with Qualitätswein and Prädikatswein, respectively. Is this not to be?

Correct you are, brand new for 2009! I hope that this enormous step finally gives consumers the confidence that they need to make informed decisions when purchasing German wines.

Cheers,
Bill