KROETENBRUNNEN – ist nicht nur Weinlage.
Der Oppenheimer Krötenbrunnen
Krötenbrunnen ist nicht nur Weinlage. Es gibt ihn.
Krötenbrunnen
Die Weinlage ’Oppenheimer Krötenbrunnen’ hat der Stadt zu weltweitem Ruhm verholfen.
Dieser populäre Tropfen ist selbst in Amerikas Weinläden zu haben.
Die Oppenheimer Winzer und Gastronomen kredenzen aber auch gerne andere hochgeschätzte Weinlagen der RheinWein-Region wie zum Beispiel den Oppenheimer Herrenberg, Herrengarten, den Sackträger, Oppenheimer Kreuz oder Oppenheimer Schloss.
Der Krötenbrunnen liegt in den Oppenheimer Weinlagen
Krötenbrunnen
Folgt der Erholungssuchende dem Spazierweg durch die beschaulichen Oppenheimer Weinberge, darf ein Besuch am tatsächlichen Krötenbrunnen nicht fehlen. Der reale Krötenbrunnen zeigt sich als munter sprudelndes Bächlein inmitten der Oppenheimer Weinlagen.
Der ’Oppenheimer Krötenbrunnen’ ist ein Brunnen der besonderen Art.
Nicht zu vergleichen mit herkömmlichen Ziehbrunnen wie man sie aus zahlreichen Städten kennt.
Der geologische Wasserhaushalt im Weinberg
Wasserhaushalt
Wie für Oppenheim angemessen, führt ein gegrabener Stollen zu einem Brunnenraum tief im Inneren des Berges.
Die listigen Oppenheimer haben eine wasserführende Schicht angegraben. Ansonsten wäre das Quellwasser am Hangsaum ausgetreten und nicht für den Wasserbedarf in der Hanglage nutzbar gewesen.
Zur Zeit der Reife sind Weinberge für Besucher attraktiv
Krötenbrunnen
Befürchtete Hangbewegungen lassen momentan eine Begehung des Brunnenganges nicht zu.
Die Neuplanung der Außenanlage ist in Angriff genommen. Wer demnächst vorbeikommt, kann einige Meter in den Stollen eintreten.
Zünftige Weinbergsrundfahrten oder geführte Radwandertouren machen Halt an diesem sagenumwobenen Ort.
Krötenbrunnen: Oppenheim, Dienheim, Ludwigshöhe, Guntersblum, Gimbsheim, Alsheim, Eich, Mettenheim, Hillesheim, Wintersheim, Dolgesheim, Eimsheim, Uelversheim
1999 Ludwig Neuhaus Oppenheimer Krötenbrunnen Auslese
May 30 ’02
The Bottom Line A fantastic Auslese at a bargain price. A great dessert wine for summer.
1999 Ludwig Neuhaus Oppenheimer Krötenbrunnen Auslese
Qualitätswein mit Prädikat
This is not a very well known wine in America, and is probably difficult to find outside of California. This wine is imported into the U.S.A. by Victoire Imports Company of San Leandro, California.
I know that there will not be many people who are actually going to be able to find this wine, but I am sharing my tasting notes here since I believe that this is one of the best bargains in Auslese wines of this quality designation (Qualitätswein mit Prädikat – or “Quality Wine with special distinction”).
Oppenheimer — The grapes for this wine were grown in the famous wine city of Oppenheim, home of the German Viticulture Museum. This city is located in the Rheinhessen growing region, south of the city of Mainz, and southwest some 40km from the Frankfurt International Airport.
Krötenbrunnen — the famous “Toad Well” is one of the best known vineyards in Oppenheim. This is an Auslese wine possessing a fairly high natural sugar content. The fruit for this wine is harvested late; the grapes being exceptionally ripe and heavy with sugar.
The Wine
Alcohol: 10.5% by volume.
Color: bright yellow; clean and clear of any sedimentary material.
Nose: some lemon fruit, honey, apricots and faint noble rot tones (botrytis) framed by a light amount of tar.
Flavor: Very sweet, honeyed entry balanced mid-palate by striking fruit acidity — striking particularly because it “rights” and balances the whole taste sensation with a rich, ripe and zingy presentation of yellow apple, pear and sweet (as opposed to sour) gooseberry. Lingering, sweet finish with a touch of alcohol warmth and a light botrytis twitch. A slight mineral/salt sensation remains long after the finish. Residual sugar must be high. Definitely over 5% and probably approaching 10%.
Verdict & Recommendations: 4-stars. A tremendous value for the money and a wonderful dessert beverage. (i.e., this wine is best served as a dessert.) Compares very favorably against the 1997 Josef Friederich Oppenheimer Krötenbrunnen Auslese, especially in the price department. I bought this 1999 Ludwig Neuhaus Auslese for $5.50 at Pic-n-Sav; I bought the 1997 Josef Friederich Auslese for about $8 more. Serve chilled. Refrigerator temperatures (35-38ºF) are fine, but this one does open up nicely at around 40-45ºF.
I would buy this wine again, and do recommend it to my friends who like complex, sweet wines. At under $6/bottle, I think it is a tremendous wine value.
In Germany, every batch of wine that is bottled is quality inspected and numbered.
Here are the details:
Ludwig Neuhaus Auslese Rheinhessen 1999
Oct 08 ’02
The Bottom Line An interesting wine at a bargain price — Ludwig Neuhaus Auslese Rheinhessen 1999.
1999 Ludwig Neuhaus Auslese Rheinhessen
Qualitätswein mit Prädikat
This Auslese is a “Quality Wine with special distinction” (Qualitätswein mit Prädikat) that I picked up recently on special sale. Earlier this year, I tried a 10½% alcohol by volume Oppenheimer Krötenbrunnen Auslese, also from Ludwig Neuhaus.
This wine is a product of Germany’s Rheinhessen growing region, south of the city of Mainz, and southwest some Frankfurt. It does not appear to be from a specific Großlage (a precisely defined growing region containing numerous vineyards), nor is it from an individual vineyard or estate (an Einzellage). My best guess is that this is a wine blended from Riesling and Müller-Thurgau fruit purchased from a variety of producers in the Rheinhessen growing region. Ludwig Neuhaus maintains ownership interests in several estates in the Mosel and Rheinhessen wine regions. It is a large, modern winery that produces over 25 million bottles of wine per year for world-wide export.
The Wine
Alcohol: 10.0% by volume.
Color: Bright, pale yellow; clean and clear.
Nose: Some ripe fruit tones — predominately a grapey pear/apple — dominated by the smell of an asphalt highway on a hot summer afternoon after a light rainfall. The nose is funky and those unfamiliar with this type of wine would probably stop and be disposed to set their glass aside. With an aroma of like this… the wine surely can’t be good tasting, can it? Surprise! It is, indeed, a sweet, complex and engaging wine despite its unusual aroma.
Flavor: Slightly sweet — not as honeyed or as rich as the Ludwig Neuhaus’s Oppenheimer Krötenbrunnen Auslese that I tried earlier in the year. Complex and engaging. Ripe apple and gooseberry flavors are rich, but not zesty; the whole flattened by some mineral and complex bitter flavors that remind me of almond oil/peach pit. This is a sweet wine, but it does not strike me as being as sugar heavy as the Oppenheimer Krötenbrunnen (which I rated 4-stars).
Verdict & Recommendations: 3¼ stars. A good value and a wine well-suited for hot weather consumption.
Oppenheimer Krötenbrunnen Spätlese
Bottle price: £4.15 add to basketview basket
Click here for currency conversion
Description:
Sweet wine from late picked extra ripe grapes. Quite full fruit flavours. Appealing, easy to drink for those who prefer a sweeter wine less heavy than from other parts of the world.
Oppenheimer Krötenbrunnen Spätlese
Region Rheinhessen
Grape type Müller-Thurgau, Riesling
Producer Johannes Egberts
Colour White
Wine style Sweet fresh white
Bottle size 75cl
Vintage 2005
Food Apéritif,wine often drunk alone. Simply prepared fish dishes or other, light lunches.
Rheinhessen
Germany’s largest wine region, Rheinhessen, lies in a valley of gentle rolling hills.
While vines are virtually a monoculture in the Rheingau or along the Mosel, they are but one of many crops that share the fertile soils of this region’s vast farmlands. Steep vineyard sites are confined to small areas near Bingen and south of Mainz along the Rhein Terrasse. Varied soils and the favorable climate make it possible to grow many grape varieties, old and new. In fact, many of Germany’s aromatic, early-ripening new crossings were bred in Rheinhessen by Professor Georg Scheu, after whom the Scheurebe grape is named (pronounced “shoy”). The region boasts the world’s largest acreage planted with the ancient variety Silvaner and is the birthplace of Liebfraumilch, the soft, mellow white wine originally made from grapes grown in vineyards surrounding the Liebfrauenkirche, or Church of Our Lady, in Worms. Rheinhessen wines are often characterized as being soft, fragrant, medium-bodied and mild in acidity — pleasant, easy-to-drink wines. There are also wines of great class and elegance, with a depth and complexity second to none.
Geographical location:
The Rhine Valley, bordered on the west by the Nahe River and on the north and east by the Rhine.
Major town(s): Mainz, Worms, Alzey, Bingen.
Climate:
Mild. The region is ringed by protective hills and forests: in the west, the forested, hilly countryside known as Rheinhessen’s Switzerland; in the north, the Taunus Hills; in the east, the Oden Forest.
Soil types:
Loess, limestone and loam, often mixed with sand or gravel, are the main soil types. Rotliegendes is a red, slaty-sandy clay soil in the steep riverfront vineyards of Nackenheim and Nierstein and near Bingen, there is an outcropping of quartzite-slate.
Vineyard area (2003):
26,171 ha / 65,666 acres · 3 districts · 24 collective vineyard sites · 400+ individual sites
Grape varieties [white 71.2% · red 28.8%] (2003):
Müller-Thurgau (18%), Dornfelder (12.5%), Silvaner (10.3%), Riesling (10.1%) as well as many new crossings, e.g. Kerner, Scheurebe, Bacchus, Faberrebe and Huxelrebe, and the red varieties Portugieser, and Spätburgunder.
Marketing:
There are a large number of part-time wine-growers in the region who sell grapes or bulk wine to commerical wineries and producer associations who make and/or bottle and market the wine. Because of the large number of individual sites, about half the region’s wine is marketed under the name of a few collective sites (e.g. Niersteiner Gutes Domtal, Oppenheimer Krötenbrunnen). About one third of all Rheinhessen wine is exported, not least because it is the primary supplier of the components for Liebfraumilch.
Signposted routes through wine country:
There is no officially signposted Rheinhessen Wine Road. (One explanation is that nearly every village in the region is involved with wine and hence, all roads are “wine roads.”) The road parallel to the Rhine (B-9) from Mainz to Worms is known locally as the Liebfrauenstrasse.
