Silvaner

[redsauced]

2005 Rancho Sisquoc Silvaner

Received a couple of these as a gift. Sorry if I'm posting in the wrong forum. I have not read postive things about Silvaner in general, and I've not seen any grown in California. Anyone have any exp in this arena?

[Innkeeper]

You are in the right place. It is a grape grown in Alsace, Germany, Northern (Germanic part of)Italy, as I am sure elsewhere. When we lived in the Nancy area of France back in the mid 60's we drank and enjoyed a lot of it from Alsace. Since then they and others have cut back on bottling it varietally, and use it in blending, as well as cutting back on total acreage. Where did your wine come from?

[redsauced]

From Rancho Sisiquoc Winery just North of Santa Barbara. I've had some ok Reisling from them, I am told they are the only maker of Silvaner in the states.

[Innkeeper]

Could be. Looking forward to notes on this one.

[wondersofwine]

I lived for a time in Wurzburg, Germany, in the heart of Franken wine district. Lots of Sylvaner there in flattened flask shaped bottles of green glass.* I was never very fond of the Sylvaner wines although there were a few sources around Wurzburg and Kitzingen that rose above the rest of the crowd. I think I recall a Hospice bottling as one of them. Julius something. (Just googled for it and found Juliusspital and Burgerspital zum Heilege Geist (citizens or town hospital of the Holy Ghost). I think these were the ones that sometimes were a cut above. Good web site on Franken wines at http://www.chiff.com/wine/europe/franken.htm
Some call Franken wine the most masculine of German wine. *The bottle I was recalling is the "Bocksbeutel."