What the heck is a Bocksbeutel?!

Have you ever wondered what it is about this flat, fat bellied bottles you see in many posts about German wine from Franconia? Ugh… what is Franconia? Well then let’s start from the beginning.

Franconia (German: Franken) is one of the 13 defined wine regions in Germany producing quality and premium wines. It is famous especially for its white wines from the Sylvaner grape. Characteristic for Franconia is also the shape of the bottles in use. Special wines of a certain minimum quality and regionally typical grapes are filled in those unique shaped bottles called the Bocksbeutel [spelled: box-boy-tell].

The Bocksbeutel is proven to be used in Franconia for wine for at least 290 years and just recently there has been an “archeological” trove of a Bocksbeutel in NY during construction works. This one evidentially was imported over 100 years ago to the States. Simply by the shape of the bottle (and a seal) the origin was easily allocated to the Bürgerspital estate of Würzburg, Franconia, Germany. Try this in a hundred years with a typical in Bordeaux-style shaped bottle.

The history dates back to at least 1726, when the City Council of Würzburg - the capital of the Franconian wine region - decided that the outstanding wines from the Würzburger Stein vineyard had to be bottled in the Bocksbeutel. The intention of using this special shaped bottle was to protect against forgery. Though today forgery is not the major concern anymore the Bocksbeutel is still used for excellent wines from all over Franconia.

Try and find out!

Is there good Port anywhere apart from the Douro valley?

I am an aficinado of Portwine. This sweet, fortified wine from the lovely Douro River in Portugal got me when I first tasted it.

Allesverloren Vintage wine in Portwine style

Well, this one seems to be a candidate. It's the 2009 Fine old Vintage of the Allesverloren Estate in Swartland, SA. Interestingly it's made from the traditional grape varieties of the original Portwine, Tinta Barocca, Souzao, Pontac and a blend of Malvasia Rey, Tinta Roritz, Tinta Francisca and Touriga Nacional.

To be honest, I was allured by the name "Allesverloren" which is German for "all is lost". Obviously the estate was facing some bad times somewhen in the past, but nowadays their wines are definetly a bargain.

Nothing is lost with this wine, just the ashes of the cigar are.

Alter Satz - Heritage of biodiversity

Traditional Franconian Bocksbeutel bottles

In 1835 first European settlers landed on the north banks of the Yarra River, Australia, in California the gold rush began and in Franconia, Germany, a small vineyard was planted with at least 35 different grape varieties.

A lot changed since then, Yarra Valley became a spot on the map of wine regions, wine became the new gold in California but the small vineyard in Franconia remained as it was back then. Almost forgotten, for god’s sake, too far apart from other vineyards to merge with and too far for Phylloxera to reach, so that there was no need for clearing and grubbing it. Almost 180 years later the vines still produce grapes and thankfully there is a vintner – Otmar Zang of Sommerach - who is anxious to preserve this heritage by caring for this vineyard called “Rimbacher Landsknecht”.

The Gemischter Satz - farmers perils insurance

What today seems completely absurd, to plant in one vineyard 35 different varieties, was back then in Franconia the norm. A so called “Gemischter Satz” (mixed planting) was the perils insurance for the farmer to harvest at least something even in years with bad weather conditions, and there were lots of those back then. Even if some grapes would not ripen others would. And not to forget, the vast biodiversity is a perfect measure of pest management because pests and diseases can’t specialize on certain plants.

No surprise, the wine made from this vineyard is outstanding. The diversity of varieties translates into an overwhelming complexity. The aroma is rather weak in the intensity, without clearly defined peaks, but is composed of too many different impressions to describe it comprehensively. Furthermore it is almost senseless to describe the taste of this wine because it would never be the same again. All 35 varieties are harvested together, this means that each vintage is different. What almost certainly will retain in each vintage is the pleasant minerality which originates from the 30 to 50 ft. deep rootage of the vines in the shell limestone of this area. A distinct acidity is also characteristic for Franconia and so it is for this wine.

The wine is called “Alter Satz” which refers both to the old (German: “alt”) vines as well as to the “Gemischter Satz”, the mixed planting. “Satz” also translates into “sentence” or “phrase” which is a nice analogy. In other words, a single grape variety is like a violin but a “Gemischter Satz” is an orchestra.

You are interested in what grape varieties are planted there, well so is Otmar Zang as well. Of the 35 different varieties there are only 16 identified yet. Even the experts of the Federal Research Institute of viticulture (Bundesforschungsanstalt für Rebzüchtung) could not identify the remaining 19 definitely. Predominant is the oldest German variety “Elbling” which almost disappeared from today’s wine lists. Of course the Franconian signature grape the green Silvaner can be found there but also its less known sisters yellow and red Silvaner. Others are e.g. Aligote, Pinot Blanc and Pinot Noir, Riesling, Heunisch, Muscateller, Traminer and Gutedel (Chasselas) varieties.

Now, did I water your mouth? If so, then I am deeply sorry to tell you that you need to come over to Franconia to taste it. There are only about 2.000 Bocksbeutel filled each year of this precious wine. But in this case precious does not automatically mean expensive. The 2013 “Alter Satz”, Rimbacher Landsknecht, Franken is listed with 13,50 EUR for the 0,75 liter Bocksbeutel bottle.

Enjoy!

How to read a German wine label

We Germans are known to be well organized, sometimes even over-organized. And we love to know exactly what we buy and what we drink. This is why usually it is quite hard to read a German wine label if you are not German. Of course the language is an issue but probably not the biggest.

Here is a little guide to understand German labels:

In general, the more detailed the information on the label the better the quality!

Usually most prominent on the label is the vintner or wine estate, because we want to know who is responsible for that all. Brand names are not so common, especially in the higher quality range.

Next is the grape variety. Remember, we want to know what we drink! In Germany most wines are made from a single variety and of course this is mentioned on the label. Cuvées are not so common and have quite a dubious image. It usually is not seen as to make an excellent wine from two or more good ones but to try to make at least a drinkable one from two rather bad ones. Probably that's why Bordeaux is not as big here as elsewhere, but don't tell them...

This is why the vintage is so important. You will never get the same wine in different years. So the vintage is important to mention and also to know about the good years and the less good ones. But which are the excellent years is insider knowledge we would never tell to the big audience here :-)

German wine label on a Bocksbeutel bottle

Terroir is a big topic too. We not only want to know what we drink but also where it comes from... exactly. Not only the region (e.g. Franken) but also the village, the cru, the vineyard and sometimes even a single spot called "Parzelle" of the vineyard which is rarely bigger than the average backyard garden in the US. So you can almost localize the grapevine your wine comes from. Remember, we want to know... well I think we had that already.

German wines are predominant dry, Franconian wines usually are bone dry. We know that but nevertheless we mention it on the label. trocken means dry in German. If you don't find it on the label then expect some residual sugar in there. Other terms are used to indicate sweetness, like halbtrocken (semi dry) or feinherb but they are not mandatory.

“Prädikatsweine” (graded wines) often bear a quality level on the label which is derived from the potential alcohol of the must, the "must weight". The lowest level is Kabinett, second Spätlese (late harvest), then Auslese (selection), Beeren- and Trockenbeerenauslese (selection of single berries / affected by noble rot) and Eiswein (icewine). From Auslese upwards you can be sure to have residual sugar in the wine.

Of course the alcohol level is mentioned as well as the volume of the bottle. Finally every quality wine bears an A.P. number (Amtliche Prüfnummer = official testing signature) as every wine is tested and gets its individual number.

That’s it… almost… well for the front label. No, I am not kidding. Most wines have a back label as well because there are lots of other things the vintner thinks we need to know. E.g. if the wine is organic produced this most likely is mentioned there. The address of the wine estate can be found so you find them next time you want to fill your trunk with bottles of this wine.
There can be some other icons found there. For instance, one with an out crossed pregnant woman, I think this means you won’t get pregnant from drinking this wine, but I am not totally sure about this ;-)

Furthermore the mandatory warning that the wine contains sulfite. Frequently the temperature for best serving the wine is mentioned as well as what dishes are best to accompany it, sometimes even the recipes how to prepare them… O.K. that’s rare but not impossible.

You see, lots to read and to understand. Have I already talked about the spelling of the varieties? Well, this is definitely worth another post.

Mission accomplished!