Wine: Opfinger Attilafelsen Spätburgunder Trocken

This is a wine that I discovered today. It comes from a large vineyard that lies to the West of Freiburg, about 50 miles south of Sasbachwalden, where the Alde Gott wines are produced. Freiburg is unofficially called the capital of the Black Forest, partly because of its size (250,000 inhabitants), partly because of its beauty. It's also known as being the warmest city in Germany, which has led to a lot of wine being planted in and around Freiburg. One of the slogans of the Baden wine industry is "Badische Weine, von der Sonne verwöhnt" ("Baden wines are pampered by the Sun"), which refers mainly to the Freiburg area wines. In the rivalry between Baden and Württemberg for who has the best wine, the Sun is often mentioned. "More Sun means better wines", they say. It's definitely the case that more Sun means sweeter wines, but whether sweeter means better is a matter of taste.

One thing that's noticeable is that the name of the area, Baden, is more prominent on the label than the name of the vineyard itself. This is common for Baden wines, maybe because there's a communal pride in their wine. I haven't seen this done in Württemberg, apart from the Nunc Est Bibendum wines, which seem to be generic in nature.

This wine has a rich and fruity taste. Even though it's called "trocken", a dry wine, its sweetness is on a par with the Eberbach-Schäfer Spätburgunder, which isn't called dry. One unusual factor is that the wine has a 14.5% alcoholic content, according to the label. Spätburgunder wines usually don't have more than 12% alcohol.

The Spätburgunder ("Late Burgundy") is the most common red wine harvested in Baden. In fact, it's closely associated with Baden, hardly grown in Württemberg and other areas. The Opfinger Attilafelsen web site reveals that despite its size, the vineyard's red wines are all varieties of Spätburgunder. All their other wines are white wines. This is typical for Baden.