“Old habits die hard” is the right saying – and that’s exactly what happened to the author during the cider tasting at Andreas Schneider’s fruit farm. Although he knew that this was a fine drop with a round
Priced at 20 euros, he gulped down the refreshingly sparkling drink as if it were a pint of sour Ebbelwoi. “You can do it, especially when it’s so hot,” Schneider said nonchalantly and poured more. “But actually you should enjoy our ciders like a good sparkling wine or white wine.” With more careful tasting, the drink obtained from the Kaiser Wilhelm apple revealed complex fruit and brioche aromas, which make it imaginable not only as a thirst quencher, but can also be served as an accompaniment to white fish, dumplings or roast veal.
The 54-year-old tailor, who has since been showered with prizes, has been considered a pioneer of Ebbelwoi processing since he took over the orchard on the northern edge of Frankfurt from his parents in 1993 and converted it to organic cultivation. He saved apple varieties such as the Heuchelheimer Schneeapfel or the Doberaner Renette from extinction and presses them into wines and ciders. He justifies the high prices with the rarity of the varieties and the age of his trees, because the older a tree, the richer the fruit. “I also have cheap wines by the glass on offer,” he says, “but some of my trees are thirty years old, and a Wildling made from loess costs 25 euros because there are only 21 old trees left and it only bears fruit every two years.” If that is still too expensive for you, you can start with a red star renette for 13.50 euros per bottle.
Of course, one can argue about whether the price-performance ratio lives up to expectations compared to a Riesling. But he sells the 15,000 bottles that Schneider produces a year without any problems. Even in Sapporo they swear by his “Stöffche”. Because fine apple wines are in. Whether in Normandy, Asturias and the Basque Country, but above all in England, young people who enjoy themselves have long since discovered cider, sidra, sagardotegi and cider as a light alternative and have caused a boom that is slowly arriving in Germany and apple growers like Andreas Schneider and apple vintners like Jens Becker come into focus.
When after the Second World War the ban on making alcoholic beverages from fruit was issued, the cider culture was over for the time being
The latter has been running his apple wine shop JB in Sachsenhausen, the heart of German Ebbelwoi culture, for thirteen years. “The old cider producers laughed when I said I wanted to make vintage wines and sell them for 8.50,” recalls the career changer, who actually comes from marketing but has already made cider with his grandfather. Meanwhile, his business is booming. It is pressed either as a single variety or as cuvées. “With the cuvées, I can ensure that my ciders in particular taste more or less the same, because the harvests can turn out quite differently depending on the weather,” says Becker. Drink from a large white wine glass. The best drinking temperature is between ten and twelve degrees, the alcohol content between four and nine percent. He recommends his JB German cider for around 11 euros for beginners, and the still Boskoop apple wine for 9.50 euros for advanced users.
A distinction is made between still wine and cider, also known as sparkling wine, as well as sparkling apple wine made using the Méthode champenoise. “It used to be called apple champagne,” explains Becker, “and was no less valued up to the end of the 19th century.” When the ban on making alcoholic beverages from fruit came after the Second World War, the cider culture was over for the time being . When the ban fell, Heinz Schenk swung the Bembel, the “Blaue Bock” became synonymous with German philistinism.
But that’s over now. Because even in Sachsenhausen, more and more restaurants don’t just have the classic one
pints, but also fine fabrics on the menu.
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