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And The Best Supporting White Wine Grape Award Goes To...Silvaner!
covered 30% of all German vineyards. This lasted until the late 1970’s, when Silvaner was replaced by its blending partner Müller-Thurgau as Germany’s most populous.
But the problems with the Silvaner grape started right around this height of popularity. Like numerous actors and actresses who win a Best Supporting trophy, fill their schedule with all sorts of brand-new projects, but just can’t sustain the same level of quality their new-found popularity demands, so too could Silvaner not sustain its own quality in the wake of such increased demand. You see, much like the dichotomy between what fans see on the silver screen and how some movie stars behave in real life, Silvaner harbored a dirty little secret of its own: it is an extremely ambitious and vigorous grape, producing substantial amount of fruit from each vine. But unless that vigor is contained, reined in, and focused into just a few select bunches, Silvaner loses all of its elegance and produces flat, neutrally-tasting wines.
So like how Cuba Gooding, Jr. loaded up his post-Jerry Maguire calendar with bombs like What Dreams May Come, Instinct, and Chill Factor (his rock-bottom moment with Snow Dogs would come 6 years later in 2002) and Marisa Tomei would have misfires such as Untamed Heart and The Paper in the wake of her win for My Cousin Vinny, so too did Silvaner suffer in its post-popularity stages. It also didn’t help matters that because of the weakness of the wine when produced in bulk, Silvaner became a major component of the sweet German wine known as Liebsfraumilch, which while popular in Germany, came to be reviled the world over (here in the U.S., you might best remember Liebsfraumilch as Blue Nun; you can read more about it in our Müller-Thurgau section).
Suffice to say that years of overproduction coupled with the increasingly negative reputation of Liebsfraumilch sent Silvaner’s stock plummeting. Though it never ran the risk of becoming extinct, it did lose its reputation both in Germany and abroad as a major wine grape, instead being subjugated to producing only jug and sweet wines that no connoisseurs would touch. And yet, just like the inexplicable reverence France has for Jerry Lewis, one particular region of Germany – the Franconia area of Bavaria, the only region of Bavaria that produces wine grapes and where Liebsfraumilch is not legally allowed – still revered the grape and continued to produce wines with it. Silvaner was also produced regularly throughout the Alsace region of France, and has enjoyed a bit of a renaissance since 2006, when the Silvaner grape was legally allowed to be included in the blend of Alsatian Grand Cru wines. In this way, Silvaner really could be considered the Marissa Tomei of Forgotten Grapes (remember, despite her shock Best Supporting Actress win in 1993, she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress in 2002 for In the Bedroom and again in 2009 for The Wrestler. Plus she spent virtually all of both The Wrestler and Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead either topless or naked, AND she was George Costanza’s greatest mistake, so suffice to say we’re big fans of hers around these here parts).
When Silvaner is done right, which proper pruning and limited yields, it produces drier, crisper, more acidic wines with aromas and flavors of citrus peel, almond, green apple, and pineapple. Alsatian Silvaners tend to be even drier than their German cousins, and because of their high acidity and dryness, Silvaners are often blended with Rieslings, Elbling, Gewürztraminers and other German and Alsatian grapes that tend to lean toward the sweeter side. It’s a grape that can lend a lot of support, just like a Best Supporting Actor or Actress can do, which is why you really ought to know and be following the
career of this week’s Forgotten Grape Silvaner. Because the sky is the limit and it’s
got nowhere to go but up!
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What It Looks Like, What It Smells Like, and What It Tastes Like
Interestingly, despite their place of origin, Silvaner wines typically do not have the same signature medicinal/glycerin/sterile aroma that many of the signature white grapes of Central Europe (Gewürztraminer, Riesling, Müller-Thurgau) have. Instead, well-produced Silvaners (those with low yields from their vines) will give off very fresh scents of green apple and lemon curd. With some wines, you might get a nose of sugar cane while with others, more of a sea salt/sea breeze scent. These particular smells come down to location of the vineyard and where the wine was produced. Either way, though, you’ll be able to tell from the very first sniff that these wines are dry and tart and unlike other German varietals you might have tasted.
Because of their high acidity and low alcohol levels, Silvaners can sometimes taste a little on the thin side. However, the well-produced Silvaners will be very dry wines, much drier than anything else produced in Germany; Alsatian Silvaners will be even drier, bone dry. Silvaners typically have a lot of flavor right up front during each sip (called the attack) but then thin out or give way as the wine makes its way down your tongue and throat. Despite this, Silvaners can have decent length to them; it’s in the middle that they kind of fall apart. Green apple flavors will abound along with a lot of dry citrus and perhaps some of that salty flavor you smelled earlier (though it will be more like club soda than straight salt. You might even detect a hint of bitterness to the wine also, as if you’ve encountered a citrus seed or part of a peel. Some Silvaners will also greet you in the middle or at the end with a hint of sweetness as well. Rather schizophrenic these wines, but what else would you expect – they’re German.
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• The Silvaner grape was thought to have originated in Austria (brought over to Germany during the Thirty Years War), but as far as the people of Germany are concerned, Silvaner is German and is officially 350 years old. Why 350 years old? Well, there is a record of Silvaner vines being planted in a county of Franconia on April 5th, 1659, so the country officially recognized 2009 as the 350th anniversary of the Silvaner grape and commemorated it accordingly.
• Silvaner is grown in many places around the world, but sometimes under different names. The official name of the grape in Germany is Grüner Silvaner, while in Australia, Croatia, Austria, Switzerland (where it’s also called Johannisberger) and the U.S. (where it’s virtually non-existent), the name of the grape is spelled with a “Y”, Sylvaner. IN Slovakia they spell it with an I, and in Romania, it’s one of two Silvaner varietals, this one called Silvaner Verde (there’s also a mutation varietal there called Silvaner Roz that makes rose wines). In France’s Alsace region, where they spell it with a “Y”, the grape has become rather controversial in recent years. Within the Alsatian AOC (and almost every wine coming out of the Alsace is an AOC wine, as there is no Vin de Pays that covered the region), a variety of white grapes are allowed to be produced, most notably Gewurztraminer (without the umlaut), Muscat, Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc, Riesling, and Silvaner. Up until 2006, though, the Alsatian Grand Cru AOC (a enclave appellation within the Alsace covering only specific vineyards) was only allowed to use four grapes: Gewurztraminer, Muscat, Pinot Gris, and Riesling. However, the Zoltzenberg vineyard successfully petitioned to allow Silvaner to be used in their wines and included as part of the Grand Cru AOC, which is was with one condition: the varietal name Silvaner could not appear on the label. Considering that the Alsace one of the few French wine regions that labels bottles with the varietal name rather than the appellation name, this became controversial, as Silvaner was not considered a “noble” grape of the Alsace, and many winemakers feared it would cheapen the Grand Cru name to be including a non-noble grape and then not to acknowledge it at all.
• Because of the Milli Vanilli reference above, we suppose we need to mention this: because of its high productivity and tolerance to rot, Silvaner is one particular grape that hybridists love to experiment with. The problem is, Silvaner doesn’t make a very good parent. At this point, none of the hybrid grapes that use Silvaner as a parent are considered remarkable or even marketable. The closest Silvaner has ever come to having a successful off-spring is Müller-Thurgau, although recent genetic and DNA testing has shown somewhat conclusively that Müller-Thurgau is not a relative of Silvaner at all.
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Fun Facts to Impress/Bore People At Parties
From Brein’s Brain to Your Plate
“Silvaner is probably my favorite German white varietal out of them all. I just love how different it is an how it doesn’t taste like anything else that comes out of German or the Alsace. And I really like how crisp, refreshing, and dry it is. Got a couple of perfect pairings for a Silvaner. First, artichokes, or better yet, sunchokes. Either of these are going to go really well with a Silvaner, though the sunchoke would be my preference. The sharp acidity is really going to cut nicely through the meatiness of both and make the flavors pop. Trust me, a Silvaner is a really good combination for either of these.”
“Second, I think crab legs would just go perfectly with a Silvaner. Even though you don’t see crab as a staple on German or Alsatian menus, the succulence of the crab with just the right amount of sweetness is going to play off the sharp tartness of a Silvaner, even more so if there’s just a hint of sweetness to the wine. Add in some drawn butter for your crab, and you’re going to be in heaven with that pairing. Trust me, it’s going to be awesome!”
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Chef Brein Clements is the chef/owner of Bistro O (formerly Restaurant Omakase) in
Riverside, CA, which is quickly becoming SoCal’s answer to El Bulli. Minus the molecular
gastronomy. He began his cooking career at Domaine Chandon in the Napa Valley and
moved on to become Chef de Cuisine at the famed Balboa Bay Club before opening his
own restaurant. Plus he’s only 28. My man knows his wine and he knows his food. Each
week he’ll provide ingredient and dish recommendations that match up well with the
week’s forgotten grape. You should heed what he says. No, seriously, heed it.
2003 Gysler Weinheimer Holle Silvaner Halbtrocken
Two things about this wine before we begin: 1.) This one came from Bistro O’s wine
list; he’s still got it, but it’s one of the only places we’ve been able to find
where you can get it. and 2.) this Silvaner is a halbtrocken, which in German means
“off-dry” or having less than 18 grams of sugar per liter. Because of that, it’s
going to be a bit sweeter than other Silvaners you might try. Consider yourself warned.
That being said, we highly recommend seeking out a Gysler Silvaner Halbtrocken for
yourself, because it really is a wonderful example of the grape in spite of the gentle
sweetness. It had a darker golden color to it, and you could pick up the sweetness
on the nose right away. But on the palate that sweetness would have to wait, as the
tartness of the wine sprang forth from the first sip. Some called the flavors in
the wine green apple Jolly Rancher; some called it more pineapple and tropical citrus.
Either way, there was a beguiling spring mix of those tart and slightly sweet flavors
on the tongue, mixed with just a hint of yeast, which gave the wine almost a Champagne
or sparkling wine quality to it. Very refreshing and very delicious, we enjoyed this
very, very much. But like we said, you’re going to have to search for it on your
own, and you will probably only be able to locate more recent vintages of it. Happy
hunting!
2007 Castell Trocken Franken Silvaner
A dry (“trocken”) Silvaner from the Franconia district of Bavaria – it doesn’t get
any more straight-forward than this when it comes to 100% Silvaner. And this wine
had lots of lemon curd and apples on its more-yellow-than-green nose. The wine was
incredibly fresh-smelling, with almost a sea breeze note to it and very, very dry
notes. On the palate, the same saltiness hit you right up front, as if you’d just
swallowed a large pull of club soda. This gave way to drier citrus flavors, but the
whole thing started to fall apart in the middle, losing a bit of its flavor and becoming
a bit flat. It regrouped at the end, though, and had quite a lengthy aftertaste for
a wine that seemed to be coming apart at the seams mid-palate. Despite its apparent
thinness and the up-front saltiness, still a rather good quaff, one that our tasting
squadron readily enjoyed as a whole. We picked up this bottle at Wine Exchange, though
we’ve seen it around at a few places. Definitely a value-priced Silvaner (what Silvaner
isn’t really, since no one really knows the
grape) and we definitely recommend it. Enjoy.
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Our Friend of the Forgotten Grapes Tasting Squadron tastes all of the wines you see
here ahead of time to ensure that you aren’t getting anything rotten or clunky. We
also try to ensure that most of the wines highlighted here are affordably priced
($20 or less) so you can try them out for yourself without having to take out a second
mortgage or sacrificing your kid (or future kid’s) college fund to do so. Lastly,
the Friends of the Forgotten Grapes has relationships with all the fine wine purveyors
we link to in this section. We know them, we trust them. You can order these wines
from them online right now and be trying them out in the next couple of days. Do
yourself a favor and order from them by using the links below. It’s totally worth
it. And tell them that ForgottenGrapes.com sent you, too.
If you’re a fan of Forgotten Grapes and have been following the site regularly, you know we’ve touched on the fact that most white varietals originating from or grown in Central Europe (namely Germany, Austria, the Czech republic, and all those former Eastern Bloc countries that start with the letter “S”) typically have either an extremely pale or a greenish tint to them. Not so Silvaner. While the wines might have just a hint of green to them, more often than not they are strikingly yellow, sometimes even golden.
Go On. Try It. You’ll Like It. 
Ah, but it may end up being one of those Milli Vanilli “Best New Artist” at the 1989 Grammys sort of things. More on that in a bit...
But first, Silvaner (sill-VAHN-er). It’s German, and nothing that comes out of Germany could be bad, right? (which is why my chest tattoo says “DIE Silvaner DIE”). Silvaner is a white wine grape that for a time was the most popular and the most populous grape in all of Germany. It reached its peak after World War II, when Silvaner vines
