Franconia Wines??

Whatever happened to the wines from Franconia?? I used to find many of the quite pleasant. But I haven't seen one on the shelves for several yrs. Never see a TN here on one.
Of course, the wines suffer the handicap of the ugly/user unfriendly bottle (bocksbuetel....goat scrotum) that they come in. Even worse than the Turley btls.

Anybody have a recent experience w/ a Franconia wine??
Tom

I still see some on shelves. Furst is easiest to find around NYC, though Chambers carries a few from Wein Goutte. But pricing is expensive (wein Goutte starts at $30, Furst usually $60+). Few still use the bocksbuetel. Wirsching does, but now $80-100 compared to $30 it used to be.

I have in-laws that live in Franken. As always, lots of good wine and they don't even use Bocksbeutel as much as they used to. Family visited Leipolds and Weltner last week and brought me back price lists, very affordable if you can get yourself to the cellar!

We used to see them here but they seem to have disappeared from this market. I was never very impressed with them. Best fun was grabbing an old silver beer stein when someone brought a Franken wine to dinner. I told them it was a Franken-stein......

I must admit that the German name for the shape of the bottle seems apt.....

goat.jpg

Hi all,

yes, Frankonia isn't all Bocksbeutel anymore. There are many great Sylvaners out there (Franken's best). Quite a few vintners experiment with putting them into new wood. I can recommend Rudolf May (but he is quite pricey). The Eigenart from Max Müller I is a steal at 20€.

We also appreciate Fränkischer Satz (planted in the 60s or more recently) or even Alter Fränkischer Satz (from vines planted before 1900) a lot. Most of them are affordable. On the pricier side Nico Scholtens has one he put in wood for 42€. These are mixed plantings, same vineyard, not a cuvee, mostly several silvaner varieties and some traminer. Zehnthof Luckert has a Silvaner from vines of more than 100 years.

It is an interesting area to explore, not only for the wine but also for food (carp, char (Saibling)) and beer.

Winfried

[Jenise]

We used to see them here but they seem to have disappeared from this market. I was never very impressed with them. Best fun was grabbing an old silver beer stein when someone brought a Franken wine to dinner. I told them it was a Franken-stein......

I must admit that the German name for the shape of the bottle seems apt.....

goat.jpg

Totally off topic, but we used to work on Rose Parade floats every year and one year the float we were assigned to had all kinds of wild animals on it. Me and another guy were putting the hair on what was to be a very realistic mountain goat, applying wads of dried thistle chokes, him on one side and me on the other, and as we met underneath in it's nether regions we had to look up a picture just like this in order to decide which direction the hair should go. Was rather funny.

Totally off topic, but we used to work on Rose Parade floats every year and one year the float we were assigned to had all kinds of wild animals on it. Me and another guy were putting the hair on what was to be a very realistic mountain goat, applying wads of dried thistle chokes, him on one side and me on the other, and as we met underneath in it's nether regions we had to look up a picture just like this in order to decide which direction the hair should go. Was rather funny.

Sounds like you guys had a ball......

Speaking of Franken, one of my favorite Berlin wine merchants introduced me to a new winemaker today, and I took home a delicious bottle of 2023 Weingut Ottenbreit Hucklkätz Silvaner, in a standard Burgundy bottle, no bocksbeutel.

A modern wine in the natural mode, unfiltered, juicy and hazy and still smelling a bit of the elevage. BUT, also showing plenty of the tart tangy mineral herbal silvaner notes that you would expect. Juicy and incisive, a brilliant combo. Overall a very intriguing interpretation of silvaner, so I'm open to learning more about this young winemaker, who has a wide range of cuvees.

In other words, what we see in the US is not very representative of what's happening in Franken.

But that is always the case...

Another dose of 2023 Silvaner, via Leipold’s Keuper. Delicious juicy and friendly, although not in the same hazy unfiltered natural mode as the Ottenbreit. Instead, greater clarity, nice mineral intensity, but also easy and ready to accompany your meal/morning/afternoon/evening…

And then finishing up a run of sylvaner, I enjoyed the 2022 Weltner Rödelseer Küchenmeister Sylvaner Erste Lage over two days. Much more of a classic profile than the Ottenbreit and the Leopolds. Clear salty mineral with great firm body and length, but with that herbal sylvaner tone to remind you of the grape. Very firm but never severe. Always delicious. Very impressive.

Not sure if sylvaner will break into the top ranks of grapes for the geeks to follow, but there is so much to taste and enjoy.

I'm actually unsure whether I've ever had a German Silvaner -- we had an Alsatian in rotation as a house white for a while a year or two ago, and I really liked it: lots of texture and herbaceousness, not too big. I'll have to see what can be found around here.

... an Alsatian in rotation as a house white for a while a year or two ago, and I really liked it: lots of texture and herbaceousness, not too big. I'll have to see what can be found around here.

Herbaceous does seem to be a common theme, along with good acid structure, but I've not had as much silvaner as some other grapes to sort out all the specifics. I guess its scarcity on the US side doesn't make it easier! And, then of course we're spoiled for choice in the US with all the wines from everywhere.