WTN: Silvaner GG

2006 Zur Schwane Volkacher Ratsherr Silvaner GG –Franken, Germany 13,5% alc.

This comes from a south-facing vineyard upriver (Main) from Würzburg just north of the Volkach oxbow. Ratsherr is a large vineyard and not particularly uniform. But the best of it, of Muschelkalk, is GG classified. Showing a little development after five years, this is a very good wine. It is starting to take on some apricot flavors, Asian pear, and vinous secondary flavors of crème brulee and smoke. The acidity fades gracefully into the background. There is an unmistakable earthiness to the wine which is a varietal characteristic as well as one from the vintage, but I wonder if a wine like this could sway some Chardonnay or Chenin drinkers over the line to the wonderful world of Silvaner?

Cheers,
Bill

Well, if you ship a bottle to Israel, I'm willing to take a look...

Silvaner? I am pretty sure that I have seen it spelled Sylvaner. Are both acceptable usage or is there a difference between the two?

Silvaner? I am pretty sure that I have seen it spelled Sylvaner. Are both acceptable usage or is there a difference between the two?

I believe Sylvaner is more common in France and Silvaner is more common in Germany. But both are acceptable usage.

Bill,
Did this come in a traditional Boksbeutal?? (sp??)
It's a shame the Franconia wines don't get a bigger play here in the USofA. They can be such
delicious and pretty wines.
Tom

Hi Tom,

Hell yes indeed, traditional Bocksbeutel. I accept no substitutes! Yes, Franken wines are a 'hand-sell'. People get freaked out by Mateus bottles with umlauts printed on the label containing grape varieties that they've never heard of (like Silvaner, Scheurebe, Rieslaner, Müller-Thurgau...) I share your pain. A handful of the better producers are available, but are certainly not easy to find. Some producers are abandoning the Bocksbeutel, which I think is a shame. And the wines can be expensive. This Zur Schwane is 19€, which probably means $45 US.

There is a current trend in Germany to label wines with the more traditional name of Grüner Silvaner. I think it is completely unintentional as not many German consumers outside of Bavaria are aware of Grüner Veltliner, nor do Germans necessarily think about exporting Silvaner to countries with good Austrian wine markets. But it might serendipitously provide an 'IN'.

Cheers,
Bill

Hi Tom,

Hell yes indeed, traditional Bocksbeutel. I accept no substitutes! Yes, Franken wines are a 'hand-sell'. People get freaked out by Mateus bottles with umlauts printed on the label containing grape varieties that they've never heard of (like Silvaner, Scheurebe, Rieslaner, Müller-Thurgau...) I share your pain. A handful of the better producers are available, but are certainly not easy to find. Some producers are abandoning the Bocksbeutel, which I think is a shame. And the wines can be expensive. This Zur Schwane is 19€, which probably means $45 US.
There is a current trend in Germany to label wines with the more traditional name of Grüner Silvaner. I think it is completely unintentional as not many German consumers outside of Bavaria are aware of Grüner Veltliner, nor do Germans necessarily think about exporting Silvaner to countries with good Austrian wine markets. But it might serendipitously provide an 'IN'.
Cheers,
Bill

Bill,
Yup.....I think the traditional Bocksbeutel is a big hinderance to marketing the Franconia wines. The Mateus connection. The storing of the btls. They don't fit in
conventional wine racks. All of that.
But I think it would be a mistake to abandon the Bocksbeutel, though. They're easy to recognize in wine shops. They would then become "just another German wine"
if they did. It would be a marketing disaster I think. Don't let 'em do it, Bill. Plus...I always like to tell the story about the btl's shape....it's origins.
Alas...when German wines are brought up...Franconia almost never comes to mind. At least in this country.
Tom

I love Franken Si/ylvaner and have discussed the bottle with several buyers, restaurant and retail, and they hate it. There isn't a single restaurant or retail storage rack that will fit them, and in restaurants in particular if the bottle won't fit in the cooling unit they won't buy it. It's commercial suicide; cute and distinctive, though.

Yeah, it's a shame that some people can't be bothered with the Bocksbeutel. I used to work in retail and restaurants and can only say that it isn't really that hard to find a solution. The wines are certainly worth the trouble.

Despite being rather small (6000 ha), Franken is among the more popular German wine regions domestically and because it is the only wine producing area in Bavaria, it also benefits from being the preferred region for a few of Germanys larger cities (Europeans sometimes leaning towards the Provincial as you know.) So I guess there isn't really enough wine to go around anyway, but still. I'd like to think that people aren't too busy to embrace the amazing, unique and delicious just because of a quirky bottle-shape.

Cheers,
Bill

I have been drinking a bottle of the Graf von Schönborn Alte Reben Kabinett Trocken Silvaner '08 over the last four or five nights, and enjoying it very much. I can't help thinking that Chardonnay or Pinot Grigio drinkers would be attracted by the meaty texture, but the wine also has very good fresh acidity and too many subtle flavor hints to count (herbs? apricot? green apple?). Absolutely delicious, and showed very well open for a few days, which I think is a very good sign.

Bought from K and L, where a few bottles are sometimes displayed on the counter, as the bottle doesn't fit their racking. Last time they were showing the '09, I'll be buying that too. Excellent wine for under $20.

Hi Tom,

There is a current trend in Germany to label wines with the more traditional name of Grüner Silvaner. I think it is completely unintentional as not many German consumers outside of Bavaria are aware of Grüner Veltliner, nor do Germans necessarily think about exporting Silvaner to countries with good Austrian wine markets. But it might serendipitously provide an 'IN'.

Well, unbeknownst to me untill just last week, apparently there is a Rot Silvaner, so that is probably why they designate it so. Silvaner rocks!
But how do they ship a mixed-case of standard bottles and bocksbeutels?

I have been drinking a bottle of the Graf von Schönborn Alte Reben Kabinett Trocken Silvaner '08 over the last four or five nights, and enjoying it very much. I can't help thinking that Chardonnay or Pinot Grigio drinkers would be attracted by the meaty texture, but the wine also has very good fresh acidity and too many subtle flavor hints to count (herbs? apricot? green apple?). Absolutely delicious, and showed very well open for a few days, which I think is a very good sign.

Bought from K and L, where a few bottles are sometimes displayed on the counter, as the bottle doesn't fit their racking. Last time they were showing the '09, I'll be buying that too. Excellent wine for under $20.

Thanks Oliver,

Schönborn does a very good job and because they have substantial Rheingau holdings as well (50+ ha for sure), they get good distribution too. How it lasted 4 or five nights, I'm not sure!

Cheers,
Bill

Hi Tom,

There is a current trend in Germany to label wines with the more traditional name of Grüner Silvaner. I think it is completely unintentional as not many German consumers outside of Bavaria are aware of Grüner Veltliner, nor do Germans necessarily think about exporting Silvaner to countries with good Austrian wine markets. But it might serendipitously provide an 'IN'.

Well, unbeknownst to me untill just last week, apparently there is a Rot Silvaner, so that is probably why they designate it so. Silvaner rocks!
But how do they ship a mixed-case of standard bottles and bocksbeutels?

Hi Mark,

Roter and Blauer too. Both are pretty rare -Roter is found more in Austria (aka Roter Zierfandler) and Blauer in Franken.

In Germany, the 6-pack is king and you buy direct in boxes like this:


But in a mixed case the width of a bottle is about twice as wide as a Riesling Schlegelflasche (the fluted bottle common in Germany and Alsace), so it can take up two slots. Another bocksbeutel could be inverted above the other.

Cheers,
Bill

They can't ship them mixed with other wines, unless there's a retailer prepared to do extensive custom work with a knife on the polystyrene.

In my experience very few merchants use polystyrene for shipping, Oliver. I have certainly received bocksbeutels in carboards boxes, occupying 2 slots and 2 high as described by Bill. With an appropriate bit of improvised padding it works well enough. And improvisation is the name of the game in my wine fridge too. They normally get wedged in somehow on a sheld that also contains weird champagne bottles and halves.

Hello Steve,
In the US most shipping to the retail customer is done in special boxes that protect the wine rather more than the normal case the winery uses. It sounds like you're referring to normal boxes, which are of course easy to fiddle with.

I haven't been in retail in years, and our local market is so broad that I don't ship wine from retailers, so I may be mistaken here. In any case it would be a shame if the packaging overshadowed the contents.

I have been drinking a bottle of the Graf von Schönborn Alte Reben Kabinett Trocken Silvaner '08 over the last four or five nights, and enjoying it very much. I can't help thinking that Chardonnay or Pinot Grigio drinkers would be attracted by the meaty texture, but the wine also has very good fresh acidity and too many subtle flavor hints to count (herbs? apricot? green apple?). Absolutely delicious, and showed very well open for a few days, which I think is a very good sign.

Bought from K and L, where a few bottles are sometimes displayed on the counter, as the bottle doesn't fit their racking. Last time they were showing the '09, I'll be buying that too. Excellent wine for under $20.

I just went to their website. It's for sale, but they don't ship this one!

Unless someone invents a Bocksbeutel shipper they never will.

I hate to see such interesting wine dinged by its packaging.