Schiller’s Favorite Wine Bars in Frankfurt am Main, 2013, Germany

Pictures: Christian G.E. Schiller with Kai Buhrfeind (Grand Cru) and with Oliver Donnecker (Heimat)
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For a more recent (2014) listing of Schiller’s Favorite Wine Bars in Frankfurt am Main go to:  Schiller’s Favorite Wine Bars in Frankfurt am Main, Germany 

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In Frankfurt am Main, when I just want to have a drink, I have 4 options.

First, I can drive over to Mainz and go to one of the many excellent wine taverns there. Wines tend to be entry level wines from the region.

See:
Schiller’s Favorite Wine Taverns in Mainz, Germany

Second, I can drive to the Rheingau or Rheinhessen and go to a Strausswirtschaft at a winery. Only the wine maker’s wines are served.

See:
“Hoffest” (Winery Party) at Weingut Heinrich Baison in Hochheim, Rheingau - Best of Riesling 2010 Award Winner

Pictures: Roemer and Frankfurt at Night

Third, I can go to an apple wine tavern in Frankfurt.  This would be an evening with apple wine served in a Bembel.

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

Fourth, I can go to a wine bar in Frankfurt am Main. This posting provides an overview of the wine bars in Frankfurt am Main. The wine bars are ordered alphabetically.

Wine Bars

Biancalani

A hip wine bar, in fact, a trio of an Italian Restaurant, Enotheca and Wine Bar, where yuppies like to hang out. In the summer, the large terrace is an asset. Christoph Kubenz, who used to cook at schauMahl in Frankfurt/Offenbach, recently moved to Biancalani, which as 15 toques in the Gault Millau.

Walther-von-Cronberg-Platz 7-9
Sachsenhausen

See:
The Best Restaurants in the Greater Frankfurt am Main Region, Germany

Pictures: Christoph Kubenz and Christian G.E. Schiller

Bockenheimer Weinkontor

The Bockenheimer Weinkontor (wine depot) is a true original. Wooden wine boxes serve as seats, the service is at the counter only, no service on the tables and the wines are good. Small snacks are yummy, such as bread with Salami or Cheese. An university, 1968er crowd, not wine aficionados.

Schloßstrasse 92 Hinterhaus
Bockenheim

Brasserie du Sud

A bistro and large wine bar, with a comfortable terrace. The wine list is excellent, with a strong focus on German and other old world wines, perhaps 100 wines, with about 20 by the glass. The menu is brasserie-style.

Oppenheimer Landstraße 31
Sachsenhausen

Coq au Vin

“C’est correct” would my French friend say. Nothing spectacular, but good French cooking and a range of French wines at reasonable prices. If you like French food, you can't go wrong with the three or five course menu.

It also has a small bar area.

Textorstrasse 89
Sachsenhausen

Duenker

A wine tavern in the basement of a house built in 1780. For many years, the room was used as a cellar to age apple wine, before Peter Duenker opened his wine wine tavern in 1948. Today, it is run by Christoph and Susanne Duenker. The wine portfolio includes 300 wines, including 60 by the glass.

Berger Straße 265
Geöffnet Montag bis Donnerstag 12 – 1 Uhr, Freitag und Samstag 12 – 2 Uhr, Sonntag 18 – 1 Uhr.

Edelfisch (for lunch only)

Edelfisch is a specialty gourmet food retailer/wholesaler. This supermarket type store has a bar area, which is very popular for lunch. The wine selection is excellent.

Lärchenstraße 101
Griesheim

Grand Cru

The excellent food, the large, well-chosen and ever changing wine list – with about 300 wines by the bottle and by the glass - and the French brasserie/bistro atmosphere of Grand Cru always bring back fond memories of the 3 years which I spent in Paris. The expertise and the passion for wine and food of owner Kai Buhrfeindt – a Staatlich gepruefte Weinnase (a government certified wine nose) - shows clearly and everywhere at Grand Cru.

Picture: Weinmaker Markus Schneider presenting his wines at Grand Cru. In the backgound you can see Wilhelm Weil, Weingut Robert Weil

See:
German Riesling and International Grape Varieties – Top Wine Makers Wilhelm Weil and Markus Schneider at Kai Buhrfeindt’s Grand Cru in Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Textorstraße 56
Geöffnet Mo. - Fr. 12 - 15 und 18 - 24 Uhr, Sa/So. 18 - 24 Uhr

Groessenwahn

A traditional Frankfurt tavern, with a wonderful, cozy atmosphere. It has been a Frankfurt “classic” for more than 40 years. Popular with the 1968 generation crowd as well as the gay scene. You can get local favorites like Handkas mit Musik (fresh cheese marinated with herbs), but also great spins on the classics like a curried lamb shank.

I have only gone there for a full meal and have not paid attention to the bar area. But I was told that “there is always very interesting people at the bar and the wines are not bad”.

Lenaustrasse 97

Heimat

Viewed from the outside, this glass pavilion looks almost like the diner in Edward Hopper’s famous painting “Nighthawks.” The menu is small but the food is top notch. Heimat has 15 toques in the GaultMillau Restaurant Guide 2013. You can watch Chef Gregor Nowak work in the kitchen right from your bar stool.

Picture: Chef Gregor Nowak

Heimat is probably the best wine bar in town. A stunning wine list. Sommelier and Co-owner Oliver Donnecker is one of the best, if not the best, sommeliers in town. But if you show up between 7 pm and 9 pm, you are expected to eat. And you need to make a reservation.

See:
The Best Restaurants in the Greater Frankfurt am Main Region, Germany 
Frankfurt Top Trendy Restaurants – Feinschmecker 2012, Germany

Berliner Str. 70
Willy Brandt Platz

Lobster

This is very much a Parisian Bistro, where people go to eat. The menu is very down to earth; don't expect new and innovative French cooking but rather traditional recipes well executed. 

There is a small bar area, with 6 bar chairs. There are also a couple of bar tables, where you can stand. Good, but not extensively large selection of German and other European wines. The place really comes alive after 8, especially the bar area.

Wallstraße 21
Sachsenhausen

Paris' Bar and Café

For newcomers, this seems to be a French wine bar. But it is not. It is the wine bar of Paris Kosmidis, a film maker, author and journalist from Greece. He is usually there in the evening. Look out for a man with grey hair and chat with him about wine, art, theater or whatever.

You can have breakfast there in the morning, and cheese, cold cuts and vegetables during the day and in the evening. They do not have a kitchen and everything is prepared in a little corner of the bar.

Picture: Paris' Bar and Café

Paris' Bar and Café offers about a dozen wines by the glass. The focus is clearly on German, Austrian and Spanish wines. As often in Europe, New World Wines are not popular with the crowd that you meet at Paris' Bar and Café.

We always try to sit at the communal bar table in the middle of the bar and meet nice people there. If you want to shift from grape wine to apple wine, the national drink of Frankfurt am Main, two of the many cider brasseries are just around the corner, Adolf Wagner and Gemahltes Haus, on Schweizer Strasse.

See:
Wine Bar: Paris Bar and Cafe in Frankfurt am Main

Oppenheimer Landstraße 27
Sachsenhausen, Schweitzer Platz

Piccolo Weinbar

Pleasant atmosphere and a good selection of wines. I like the classical music they play. Popular with bankers after work.

Bornheimer Landstrasse 56
Alte Oper

Riesling Lounge

A new, joint venture of the German Wine Institute and the Zarges Restaurant in Frankfurt’s famous Fressgass'. 400 different Rieslings, but also other grape varieties. Zarges restaurant has a very good reputation for excellent, classical food.

Open every day except Sunday from 11 am to midnight. 
Große Bockenheimer Straße 10
Fressgass’

Riz

Just around the corner of the Heimat and also similar in terms of approach and aspirations. Chef Milan Seidenfaden has previously cooked at the 1 star Michelin level in the Restaurant Francais.

Berliner Straße 72
Willy Brandt Platz

Rollander Hof

Popular hang-out for senior citizens, who want to chat with others and not break their bank account. Wines are very reasonably priced. It is a wine tavern and closes when the Kleinmarkthalle closes

Hasengasse 5-7
Kleinmarkthalle

Weingarten

Owned and run by Ulrich Kabiersch and his wife Elke, who own and run a wine store in the same area. Pleasant atmosphere, good wines (200) and good bar food - cheese and charcutterie. 

Clemensstraße 3
Bockenheim

Weingut der Stadt Frankfurt

Frankfurt am Main in Germany is known for its international airport and its banks, but it is not known to be a wine city. Yet, the city of Frankfurt owns a wine estate: Weingut der Stadt Frankfurt.That the city of Frankfurt is in the winemaking business goes back to the secularization (the expropriation of the church and transfer of the assets to the state)that took place under Napoleon at the beginning of the 1800s. In the course of the secularization, the city of Frankfurt became the owner of the Carmelite Monastery, which had existed right in the middle of Frankfurt since 1246. With the monastery came its winery and vineyards. The Weingut der Stadt Frankfurt was borne (in 1803).

Pictures: Christian G.E. Schiller at Weingut der Stadt Frankfurt

You can drink the wines of the Weingut der Stadt Frankfurt all year round in the Weinstube im Roemer - the historic Frankfurt town hall. The Weinstube im Roemer is a nice wine tavern which offers good, hearty food from the Frankfurt area, such as Handkaes mit Musik, Fleischwurst mit Brot and Rippchen mit Kraut. The Weinstube im Roemer only serves wines from the Weingut der Stadt Frankfurt.

See:
Wine in Frankfurt am Main? - Weingut der Stadt Frankfurt, Germany

Roemer

Zur Alten Schmiede

Off the beaten track, a traditional wine tavern in Nied. Rund and owned by the charming Chris Hoerle. Sometimes, wine guru Harry Hochheimer, her partner in life, helps out and pours the wines. You feel a bit like in a “Strausswirtschaft” in Rheinhessen or the Rheingau.

Pictures: Christian G.E. Schiller with Chris Hoerle and Harry Hochheimer

Beunestr. 4
Nied

Balthasar Ress Weinbar + Vinothek (Wiesbaden)

A brandnew wine store cum wine bar, centered around the wines of Weingut Balthasar Ress in Hattenheim. Haven't been there. 30 Minutes by car from Frankfurt.

Picture: Balthasar Ress Weinbar + Vinothek

Mauergasse 10
65183 Wiesbaden

See more:
Hanging out with Rheingau Winemakers: Dirk Wuertz, Desiree Eser, Alexander Jakob Jung, Hansi Bausch and Christian Ress in Hattenheim, Rheingau, Germany

Schiller’s Favorites

This posting is part of the Schiller’s favorites series. Here is a full list of all Schiller’s favorites postings so far.

Schiller’s Favorite Wine Bars in Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Schiller’s Favorite Wine Bars in New York City, USA

Schiller’s Favorite Wine Bars in Charleston, South Carolina, USA

Schiller’s Favorite Wine Bars and Other Wine Spots in Vienna, Austria 

Schiller’s Favorite Wine Bars in San Francisco, USA

Schiller's Favorite Wine Bars in Bordeaux (City), France

Schiller's Favorite Wine Bars in Budapest, Hungary

Schiller’s 12 Favorite Restaurants of Antananarivo, the Capital of Madagascar

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

Schiller’s Favorite Wine Taverns in Mainz, Germany

Schiller's Favorite Wine Bars and Other Places Where You Can Have a Glass of Wine in Healdsburg, California