“Apfelwein im Roemer” Coming up on March 3, 2013

Pictures: Apfelwein im Roemer in Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Frankfurt am Main is definitely the apple wine capital of Germany and some say of the world. Apple wine is a German variant of (hard) cider, which is made all over the world, in same regions sparkling, in others sweet. In Frankfurt, you are typically served a tart, dry apple wine with around 6 percent alcohol, in one of the many apple wine taverns.

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Apple Wine in Frankfurt am Main, Germany and Cider in the World

"Apfelwein im Römer" 2013

"Apfelwein im Römer" is an annual event in Frankfurt am Main that brings together cider producers from all over the world. The Römer is the historical mayor’s office in the center of Frankfurt.

Apfelwein Sommelier Michael Stoeckl and Apfelwein Producer Andreas Schneider are the founders and driving force behind "Apfelwein im Römer".

With the support of the city government, cider producers from Germany and from other countries gather in the Römer for a day to present their products. This year, 40 cider producers from 8 different countries will pour more than 200 ciders.

The 2013 Apfelwein im Roemer is scheduled for March 3.

Cider in the World and Apple Wine in Frankfurt am Main

Apple wine is a German variant of cider, which is made all over the world. The French cidre is produced in Normandy and Brittany. It comes as cidre doux, cidre demi-sec and cidre brut, but most French cidre is sweet. Typically, French ciders are sparkling. Higher quality French cider is sold in champagne-style bottles (cidre bouché). German cider has a tart, sour taste. In the UK, cider is available in sweet, medium and dry varieties. In the US during colonial times, apple cider was the main beverage, but after prohibition the word cider came to mean unfiltered apple juice. Alcoholic cider is called hard cider in the US. German apple wine typically has an alcohol content of 4%–9% and a tart, sour taste. Traditionally, it is not bubbly.

Picture: With Claudia and Louie at Mainlust "Desche-Otto"- my "down-the-road" apple wine tavern, when I am in Frankfurt am Main (in the Schwanheim subburb)

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Schiller's Favorite Apple Wine Taverns in Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Cider was already known to the ancient Greeks and Romans. In the 11th century it was introduced into Spain and was used there as a medicine for scurvy. It was introduced into England in 1066 when William the Great brought some from France into England.

Apple Wine Taverns in Frankfurt am Main

In Frankfurt, much of the apple wine is consumed at the wooden, communal tables in the local apple wine taverns with hearty local food, like Green Sauce (made from 7 herbs and yogurt accompanied by boiled eggs and boiled potatoes), Rippchen mit Kraut und Brot (grilled pork, sauerkraut and bread). It is served in a Geripptes, a glass with a lozenge cut that refracts light. A filled Geripptes is called a Schoppen. If you drink more than a glass or are in a group, you typically order a Bembel (a specific Apfelwein jug). The different sizes of a Bembel are designated after their contents in glasses from 4-er to 10-er Bembel.

Picture: At the Adolf Wagner Apple Wine Tavern, with Benjamin, Joelle and Lorelei Schiller

The apple wine tavern (Apfelweinwirtschaft) is as distinctive a Frankfurt institution as the Bierkeller is of Munich or the Weinstube of Mainz. Many of the best-known establishments are concentrated in Sachsenhausen, but others are dotted all over the city. They are strongly traditional. They offer hearty local cuisine, usually at moderate prices.

Picture: Christian G.E. Schiller with Wolfgang Wagner in the Zu den 3 Steubern. Wolfgang Wagner is an icon in the Frankfurt apple wine scene

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An Apple Wine Tavern as Traditional as can be in Frankfurt am Main: “Zu den 3 Steubern” of Wolfgang Wagner, Germany

Overall, the various apple wine taverns do not differ that much one from another. However, while most of the apple wine taverns pour an apple wine bought from an apple wine producer, there are a few taverns that still make the apple wine they serve on the premise. Zur Buchscheer in Frankfurt Sachsenhausen is one of the apple wine taverns in Frankfurt, where the apple wine you drink is also produced on the premise. Then there are some apple wine taverns, where you meet more tourists and foreigners. These are very good apple wine taverns, which try to be open-minded to foreigners and tourists, while preserving the traditions of a typical apple wine tavern. A prime example is Adolf Wagner in the Schweizer Strasse in Sachsenhausen. Others are less accommodative to foreigners and more rigid in terms of how the place is being run. A prime example is Zu den 3 Steubern, also in Sachsenhausen, an apple wine tavern as traditional as can be, serving its home-made apple wine.

Picture: Christian G.E. Schiller with Robert Theobald's at his "Zur Buchscheer"

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Apple Wine Tavern Zur Buchscheer in Frankfurt am Main, Germany – The Traditional Way: Apple Wine Made on the Premises

The Premium Apple Wines of Andreas Schneider

A few years ago, a number of apple wine producers ventured into the art of apple wine making by starting to produce vintage apple wines and special variety apple wines. While the choice of apple wine in an apple wine tavern is as basic as it can get (the house apple wine), the apple wine portfolios of the artisan apple wine producers resemble very much those of the Rheingau or Rheinhessen wine makers a few miles away: There is a variety of different apple wines, with the vintage, apple variety, alcohol level, and other information indicated. One of the leaders of this new generation of artisan apple wine producers is Andreas Schneider.

Picture: Christian G.E.Schiller with Andreas Schneider at the Obsthof am Steinberg in Frankfurt am Main

It all started in 1965, when his parents Albert and Waltraud Schneider founded the Obsthof am Steinberg in Nieder-Erlenbach at the outskirts of Frankfurt am Main. Andreas took over from his parents in1993 and began to convert to organic farming. Since 1996, he has been certified by ABCERT AG, Esslingen. In 1999, he opened his apple wine tavern and garden.

On Andreas’ 13 hectares of land, not only apples are planted, but 14 different fruits, mainly of course apples.

Andreas Schneider currently sells several non-vintage, uncomplicated apple wines (Apfelweine ab Fass) directly from the barrel for Euro 2 per liter. He offers 11 still vintage apple wines (Jahrgangsapfelweine) in the Euro 4 to 12 per 0.75 liter range. In terms of remaining sweetness, they come as trocken, fast trocken and halbtrocken. Most of them are in the 7% to 8% alcohol range. The top wines are two sparkling apple wines (Apfelschaumweine), both made in the traditional champagne method and both brut. The 2008 Boskoop mit Birne with 8.5% alcohol sells at Euro 12 and the 2008 Wildings auf Loess, also with 8.5% alcohol sells at Euro 21.

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The Premium Apple Wines of Andreas Schneider - Obsthof am Steinberg - in Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Apple Wine Sommelier Michael Stoeckl

Another icon in the apple wine world of Frankfurt am Main is Michael Stoeckl. He runs the country restaurant Landsteiner Muehle in the Taunus, about ¾ of an hour north of Frankfurt by car. Michael Stoeckl’s passion is apple wine. He calls himself “Apple Wine Sommelier” and his restaurant “Apple Wine Bistrorant”, suggesting that it is a combination of Apple Wine Tavern, Bistro and Restaurant, focusing on apple wine in terms of drinks and food. The selection of apple wines available at the Landsteiner Muehle is indeed impressive: Ranging from Michael Stoeckl’s own apple wine to the premium apple wines of Andreas Schneider in Frankfurt am Main and other German producers to ciders made in other parts of the world.

Picture: Christian G.E. Schiller with Michael Stoeckl at his Landsteiner Muehle in the Taunus

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In an Apple Wine (Cider) Mecca: The Apple Wine Bistrorant Landsteiner Muehle of Apple Wine Sommelier Michael Stoeckl near Frankfurt am Main, Germany

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