Fürst Hohenlohe-Oehringen, Verrenbergerer Verrenberg "Butzen", Lemberger trocken 2007

The winery Fürst Hohenlohe-Oehringen has already impressed the distinctly non-aristocratic wine rambler with its marvellous top-of-the line red "Ex flammis orior". And the Lemberger red wine grape of Württemberg, as our regular readers know, is no other than Austria's and Hungary's Blaufränkisch. In the new spirit of german patriotism summoned by german liberal democrat and possible future foreign (!) minister Guido Westerwelle, who refused to answer an english question from a BBC reporter with the witty and adroit words: "Wir sind ja hier in Deutschland", we should probably not even tell you that. So, let's turn to a german wine from a thoroughly german grape:

With a nice bright pinot-noir-like red colour, this has a fresh nose of sour cherries and juniper, fresh green wood. In the mouth, it seems lighter than it is due to the fresh acidity, distinctly spicy again, but it has fine-grained tannins and, I think, a very light touch of oak that makes it long and round. The next day, some sweet herbal notes and some clove had rounded it out even further.

A spicy, fresh, but also mouthfilling red, this is comparable to Cabernet Franc from the Loire and of course to the more traditional austrian Blaufränkischs, like those from Uwe Schiefer, Hans Nittnaus or the Moric winery. This should go well with dried ham or speck, but also with venison, especially if some juniper is part of the sauce.

Unfortunately, this wine is too good to use it to sneak in another reference to german politics. That being said, someone should definitely acquaint Guido Westerwelle with the Little German. I have a feeling they would get along wonderfully.