The Franken Silvaner thread

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SteveTimko

Steve Timko
I was introduced to the concept of a layered finish in wine with a 2005 Steinmann Sommerhuser lspiel Silvaner Trocken. It was remarkable in that the finish would start, change flavors and just peek around the corner to change flavors again when it would end. I've tried a couple of others, none aged, and they didn't live up to that first one.

I'm looking for suggestions on ways to try more. There's not a lot available. My best local wine store is talking about getting more in, but I don't know how much or how old it will be. I see Chambers Street is getting some in from the early 1990s. Rather than hijack someone else's thread, I thought it'd be nice to get board members input on which silvaners are available in the United States and what the best way is to find them. Also, storage can be an issue if you don't store a whole case at a time.

steinmannbottlejq5.jpg
 
Hijack? What is this hijack? Comrade, threads are communal property for all to share.

Of course, no reason not to start your own, either, if it suits you.
 
Steve,

I'm not a big fan of most Silvaner, but I recently tried Castell's 2006 Casteller Schlossberg GG and was very impressed by its power and length. Only problem was the suggested retail: $54. It's imported by Valckenberg, which has decent national distribution, so you should be able to find it somewhere.

Not nearly as concentrated but still commendable was Thungersheim's 2007 Thungersheimer Ravensburg Kabinett Trocken ($20; imported by Billington Imports).

Love to hear about your further Silvaner explorations--good and bad, so please keep posting.

Joe
 
Hey Joe,

How's it goin' eh? I was in the LCBO in Kingston yesterday, and I noticed that you got a citation on one of their shelf talkers. Way to go.

Jeff
 
originally posted by Jeff Connell:
Hey Joe,

How's it goin' eh? I was in the LCBO in Kingston yesterday, and I noticed that you got a citation on one of their shelf talkers. Way to go.

Jeff
Click to expand...

Ah...but did you pull the trigger? If it was one of my reviews, I have to wonder if it would be anything you'd spend your money on.

How's the weather been up that way? We spent a few days up in Toronto and Niagara Falls this summer with our kids, doing all the touristy stuff (except the wineries in between).

Hope things are well with you,

Joe
 
No, I bought some Vineland Estates, VQA Niagara Peninsula 2007 Riesling, Dry and Semi-Dry, for $13 and change each. Which are good, actually. They might compare to the Hermann J. Wiemer base level dry and semi-dry wines (for several dollars less). They are leaner and more mineral, floral as much as fruity, to the Wiemers which are more fruity, rich and racy. The must weight must be lower, so, if you're paying for oechsles, or in this case, brix, the price differential is probably justified.

The weather? It's been great, man. It sucks. The rains just keep coming. It's been a grower's year for sure.
 
What did you have that you didn't like from Franconia?

My favourite remain Wirsching (as modern as it gets but utterly drinkable) but they can be on the alcoholic side.

For true franconian fun, Weingut am Lump (high-sih yields, casks, etc.) is a sure deal as the wines are lighter and more versatile with food. The top Sptlese is E8 ex-cellar and our house wine at the moment is its Escherndorfer Berg Mller-Thurgau Halb-Trocken Litre botting for E3.

I am a four hours drive away from Franconia so don't need to worry about availability in the US. If someone can suggest what is available in the US, I may help.
 
2007 Staatlicher Hofkeller Wrzburg Silvaner trocken - Germany, Franken (9/1/2009)
Two obvious flaws with this wine. First, it's slightly out of balance with alcohol. There's a mild alcohol taste from the attack through the finish. It doesn't go away with air time and after we put the bottle on ice. The second flaw is a mild beer-like yeast flavor. The first bottle of this I opened was undrinkable because of secondary fermentation or something like that. I wonder if that's a problem with all of these bottles.
The nose was mostly white fruit like pear. The palate was stoniness with decent minerality There were some light pea flavors on the palate as well. A decent finish. It would have been a decent wine except for the flaws. Imported by Niche Import Co.
Second day follow up: Pure alcohol flavor. Everything else was overwhelmed by the alcohol.

I got three 2007 Wirsching Silvaner single vineyard wines waiting for me in a SoCal wine cellar. This exploration of Silvaner isn't proving to be easy. I had hoped I found a gem at Corti Bros.
 
Off the top of my head and in no particular order: Horst Sauer, Bickel-Stumpf, Wirsching, Castell, Schmitt's Kinder, Juliusspital, Brgerspital, Am Stein/Knoll, Ruck. Frst, although not in real Silvaner terroir, has good Silvaner and a delicious Silvaner/Riesling blend. There's more, just not coming into my head.

Also tasted a few very interesting Rheinhessen Silvaners last week -- different from Franken and not at the same level, but good potential -- Wittmann, Wagner-Stempel, Winter are a few names to look for there. Bill Mayer/Age of Riesling has Winter.
 
originally posted by SteveTimko:
This exploration of Silvaner isn't proving to be easy. I had hoped I found a gem at Corti Bros.
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Two problems:

1. Franken wines are so popular in Franken that importers are forced to pay full price which means that the wines are fairly expensive when they get over here which means that most people (importers, distributors, wholesalers) don't want to handle them.

2. The (largely unjustified) prejudice against German dry wines created by one or more importers.
 
originally posted by Claude Kolm:

2. The (largely unjustified) prejudice against German dry wines created by one or more importers.
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Names. We want names.
Claude, where exactly do I find the wines you've listed? Even Dee Vine Wines doesn't carry them, or at least didn't the few times I've talked to them about it. The only Silvaner they had when I went there in June were TBAs from the 1970s. K&L has one now, the Burgerspital you mention, but only two more come up when I include old inventory in the search.

Wine-Searcher shows a Horst Sauer at Beltramo's, a Castell at Wine Exchange and an Am Stein Ludwig Knoll at Winerz in Orange. I'll certainly snatch those when I'm in the area but the rest are spread out.

This stuff just isn't easy to find.
Thanks for the suggestions, by the way.
 
Steve -- They're really hard to find, as I indicated above. One additional Bay Area store that is likely to carry one or more is Weimax in Burlingame. Two additional stores in NYC, besides Chambers, are Crush and PJ's. Let the stores know that you want to try some (and don't let them give you BS about how they have Alsatian Sylvaner).

Also, don't feel that you have to buy only the top end. Castell has some delicious offerings, including an excelleng generic QbA trocken, starting around $14-15.
 
Wine Country in Long Beach/Signal Hill carries the 2007 Wirsching. That's where I got mine.
But I go to the Los Angeles area once a year. I can stop by Beltramo's and I probably need to go to Weimax. I've never been there.
This is the classic addict behavior, though. The first hit was great and I'm trying to recreate that first hit experience.
 
Steve -- Tom Elliot with Northwest Wines in San Francisco distributes Juliusspital. If you have a problem finding his contact information, e-mail me and I can help you.

Weimax's website indicates that they have Ruck Riesling but not Silvaner, but that probably indicates that they would be able to get the Silvaner for you.
 
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