Dornfelder

Dornfelder is a red-grape cross from Germany. August Herold crossed it in 1955 at the Staatliche Lehr- und Versuchsanstalt für Wein- und Obstbau in Weinsberg, in Württemberg. The parents are Helfensteiner and Heroldrebe, both also from Weinsberg.

• Helfensteiner is a 1931 cross of Frühburgunder and Trollinger.
• Heroldrebe is a 1929 crossing of Portugieser and Limberger.

The Vitis International Variety Catalogue confirms this parentage with DNA markers. The grape received plant breeders' rights (Sortenschutz) on 3 December 1979. The name honours Immanuel Dornfeld, who set the founding of the viticulture school in Weinsberg in motion.

August Herold (1902-1973) was the breeder behind dornfelder and came from Neckarsulm himself. From 1 August 1928 he headed the Württembergische Anstalt für Rebenzüchtung und Rebenpfropfung in Weinsberg. After the Second World War he continued to lead that field of work until the end of 1964, when the institute had already been absorbed into the state research institution for viticulture and fruit growing.

His crossing work produced several grapes that are now well known in Germany: besides dornfelder also Helfensteiner, Heroldrebe and the white Kerner. Dornfelder is therefore a grandchild of Herold's own earlier crossings.

Dornfelder grows mainly in Rheinhessen and the Pfalz. According to the Deutsches Weininstitut, there were 6,618 hectares in Germany as a whole in 2023, of which 3,021 hectares in Rheinhessen and 2,454 hectares in the Pfalz. Together that is well over four fifths of the total planting.

The growth is striking: in 1979 it was still 124 hectares. Dornfelder now covers about 7 percent of German vineyards and is the country’s second most important red grape. The institute calls the grape robust, little prone to disease and high-yielding. Dornfelder is also planted in most other German wine regions, but on a smaller scale.

With red dornfelder wine, the label tells you how much residual sugar the wine contains. The Deutsches Weininstitut gives these limits:

• Trocken: up to 4 grams of residual sugar per litre, or up to 9 grams if the total acidity is at most 2 grams lower than the residual sugar.
• Halbtrocken: up to 12 grams per litre, or up to 18 grams if the residual sugar exceeds the acidity by no more than 10 grams.
• Lieblich: above the limit of halbtrocken, up to at most 45 grams per litre.
• Süß: more than 45 grams per litre.

The term feinherb is not defined by law and usually sits around halbtrocken. If nothing is stated, look to the producer for more explanation.

Outside Germany, dornfelder is small. The Deutsches Weininstitut names only Switzerland as a country with a modest planting, about 21 hectares in 2018. For other countries, the Netherlands included, we have found no reliable official figures, so we make no statement about them.

That makes dornfelder in practice a typically German grape. A bottle with dornfelder on the label almost always comes from Rheinhessen or the Pfalz, sometimes from Württemberg, where the grape originated. The label then names the wine region, the grape and often the taste designation as explained above.

At ’t Bockje we stock Dornfelders in different taste designations, so you can compare the label in practice straight away:

• Ellermann-Spiegel Dornfelder Trocken
• Falkenburg Dornfelder
• Rebe Dornfelder Halbtrocken
• Rotwild Dornfelder Halbtrocken
• Rotwild Dornfelder Lieblich

There is also a Dutch red wine from Rooise Heide on the shelf, for those who also want to look at a red wine from their own country. Unsure between trocken and lieblich? Drop by at Brink 2 in Bathmen or call 0570 541 278.

The shop is at Brink 2 in Bathmen. Open Tuesday to Friday from 09.00 to 18.00 and Saturday from 09.00 to 17.00. For advice, call 0570 541 278 or email info@bockje.nl.