German Dornfelder...what is this bottle???

Any info on this wine? Have no clue. I think I picked it up long time ago because of the pretty label! flirtysmile

No idea. Put out some queries on IG.

I can’t tell you about the wine, but I can tell you about what is on that pretty label. The Falterturm is also known as the “Leaning Tower of Kitzingen,” which is a wine town in Franken, not Rheinhessen. Go figure.

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That is the weird thing about this. My guess is the Rheinhessen winery did a bunch of travelogue labels. Can’t figure out why the winery name isn’t on there, unless it was sold as part of a set.

Wish I knew this bottle yet I’m sure the the combined experience of this board can help you. We have savants. My only thought was alluding by Mr. Haque above, artful label and why you grabbed it, so some cross-over with the “Most beautiful wine labels?” thread. Its well done IMO and I’ll follow along as aged Dornfelder might cross my wheelhouse one day.

Thread for such…

Can someone translate the back label?

The grape variety is Dornfelder:
https://www.wine-searcher.com/grape-139-dornfelder#:~:text=Dornfelder%20is%20a%20relatively%20recent,crossing%20of%20Helfensteiner%20and%20Heroldrebe.&text=It%20is%20commonly%20made%20in,%2C%20Sp%C3%A4tburgunder%20(Pinot%20Noir).

The back label says:

This winning quality-wine from the grape variety Dornfelder has dry notes. It is characterized by a red color and savory tannins. Best tasting at the temperature 16-18 degrees.

Cooking Wine

It’s obvious that here we have a wine for tourists.

This is correct.
The back label (actually it´s the legal main label) states the variety DORNFELDER, which is a relatively new grape variety with quite dark skin and a certain tendency to overproduce. Usually the resulting wines are simple and fruity. The wine comes from Rheinhessen - but it´s odd that no producer (winery, bottler etc.) is indicated.
The wine should be dry - and from vintage 2004 … which is quite old for this type.

The other label seems to be a (watercolour?) painting of the “Falter-Tower”, the landmark (signature building) of Kitzingen in Northern Bavaria, which is quite distant East of Rheinhessen (a good 200 km).
Maybe it´s a bottle for tourists or for PR-purposes in Kitzingen … but the lacking producer is not really legal … !

You should be content if it turns out to be “drinkable” - I have no higher hopes.

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Good work team! Yeah…I wasn’t thinking this was anything but cheap, probably sweet, plonk. But the label is so pretty! I think i’ll just keep it for that! [cheers.gif]

Dornfelder is one of the later hybrids developed. From what I have gleaned, it was often made in a slightly sweet inviting style, but the dry style is now more prevalent. Dornfelder is known to be almost inky black and was perhaps initially developed more for color than for its flavors. Not sure how much is grown in Austria, but I think it’s growing in popularity and in quality. Some is grown here in the US - Lodi at the Mokelumne Glen vineyard (that specializes in Austrian and German varieties) does some.

There seems to be a general consensus that out of the Austrian varieties Blaufränkisch is the variety that seems to be the most loved, but that Zweigelt, Dornfelder and St Laurent can make nice reds. I had a period of buying quite a bit of Austrian wines, but I can’t say I developed a strong feel for the reds (they were a bit hit and miss) - it was mostly Grüner etc. I have heard Claus Preisinger does some wonderful reds. Full disclosure; I took some Zweigelt this year and it has surprised me with it’s deep color, despite being picked pretty early. So far it’s a tensioned, high acid and primal wine with very nice fruit aromas. I have a very strong idea on how this needs to age and in what slight oak profiling it needs to complement it. I’m pretty excited about it, but the final results will only be apparent in about a year’s time or so.

So probably just 90 points from Buzz?

I love Dornfelder. And yes, you will find a lot of cheap “plonk” still produced with the Dornfelder grape out of Germany, but it’s also being produced much more seriously than in the past. I’ve had some terrific versions that were produced with whole berry fermentation and tank fermented that were just lovely in their youth. And other oak aged, much more serious versions that were black as night, and really developed over a short period of time.

This one looks like it’s past it’s prime (guessing it was tank fermented, and meant to be drunk young), but you never know.

I have also had some ultra serious versions from the Santa Barbara area. Huber Cellars used to produce a superb, very rich version.

Well, my one Dornfelder data point is a glass I had at a restaurant in Bonn about 15 yrs ago. I’d never had that, so I thought I’d try, despite the menu description: “Dornfelder is…Dornfelder”. As you might guess, it was awful. From some of the reports here, it can get better, but that one sure wasn’t worth much.

Funny…as it looks like I own TWO bottles of Dornfelder…this German…and a 2003 Huber! Never tasted one yet though. [wow.gif]

It’s not a hybrid, it’s a crossing. 100% Vitis vinifera.

Where did you get that Dornfelder would be grown in Austria? I myself have never seen a single bottle of Austrian Dornfelder. I’m not saying there wouldn’t be any, but seeing how it doesn’t appear in this list and “other red varieties” all together put up a measly 0,3% of the total planted acreage, there can’t be that much Dornfelder planted.

This is how you know you’re getting old. You don’t read that thread is about German Dornfelder and assume it’s a thread about Austrian wines because you thought the grape was developed in Austria… pileon

as silly & forgettable as Dornfelder most frequently comes across, a couple highly respected Pfälzer estates take the variety seriously

i even know one that commits the unpardonable sin of blending it with Pinot Noir

never saw one from Austria – their great crossing is the Blauer Zweigelt aka Rotburger,
which has far less to apologise for than Dornfelder

and here the list of permissible red Qualitätswein varieties in Austria – no Dornfelder

BLAUBURGER
BLAUER PORTUGIESER
BLAUER WILDBACHER
BLAUFRÄNKISCH
CABERNET FRANC
CABERNET SAUVIGNON
MERLOT
PINOT NOIR
RÁTHAY
ROESLER
ROSENMUSKATELLER
ST. LAURENT
SYRAH
ZWEIGELT

would you actually cook with a wine that you wouldnt drink?
kaum zu fassen…