Schnaitmann, Evoé!, Rosé trocken 2009

A recent encounter with a Swabian Riesling from the Schnaitmann winery has done a lot to build up my pride in Swabian winemaking. The German wine growing region of Württemberg is mostly inhabited by members of the Swabian tribe, who outside of Germany are probably better known for their engineering than their winemaking skills.

They are also known as very tidy, law-abiding citizens, so it is somewhat unusual that a Swabian wine is called 'Evoé!' - this after all being the battle cry of the followers of the Greek god Dionysus. Are we looking at a totally un-Swabian, orgiastic rowdy wine?

Well, in terms of the grape varieties used for this blend the inclusion of Württemberg's signature variety of Trollinger surely must give the wine some local credentials. Politically speaking (Württemberg being a conservative area of Germany) the light amber-red colour may be wrong but it gives the wine a playful appearance.

To a certain extend this is only a cover though for a wine that is a little more serious than the simplistic rosé fruit charmers from the supermarket round the corner. Evoé! definitively has a playful side to it, but more prominent is a serious one. Take the bouquet for instance. While it features enticing red berries and alcohol preserved fruit it is also a little rough, with yeast, dough and vegetable notes, perhaps even slightly fermented/acidic and seasoned with muscat. On the tongue the yummy red fruit is present, but the character is more dominated by a smoky bitterness with a crisp and racy side.

For me Evoé! really came into play with food. We had it with fried salmon with a light orange reduction sauce that took a little edge of the wine. The texture and taste of the crispy fish skin blended in well with the wine. So have it with food or when you are looking for a wine that is a little more rowdy than your average rosé.