Dornfelder

Dornfelder
Grape (Vitis)
Mature Dornfelder grapes
Species	Vitis vinifera
Also called	We S 341
Origin	Weinsberg, Germany
Notable regions	Germany
VIVC number	3659

Dornfelder is a dark-skinned variety of grape of German origin used for red wine. It was created by August Herold (1902-1973) at the grape breeding institute in Weinsberg in the Württemberg region in 1955. Herold crossed the grape varieties Helfensteiner and Heroldrebe, the latter which bears his name, to create Dornfelder. Helfensteiner (Frühburgunder x Trollinger) and Heroldrebe (Blauer Portugieser x Lemberger) were both crosses created some decades earlier by Herold.

Dornfelder received varietal protection and was released for cultivation in 1979. It was named in honour of Immanuel August Ludwig Dornfeld (1796-1869), a senior civil servant who was instrumental in creating the viticultural school in Weinsberg.

Early ripening Dornfelder has become popular since it provides German wine-growers with a grape that grows well in German vineyards and yields a wine with rather dark red colour. Traditionally, because of a climate that is cooler and less sunny than France or Italy, German wines had been primarily white. The reds of Germany were usually pale and light-bodied. Dornfelder, however, gives a German wine that is full-bodied with plenty of tannin, and has become the second most grown red variety in Germany. In 2006, it was grown on 8,231 hectares (20,340 acres). Some Dornfelder is also grown sucessfully in many northern European regions, such as England, where it was introduced in the 1980s, and in colder locations in the United States.

It is quite unusual for a red wine because it is rather sweet. However, with its robust plum flavors, Dornfelder is better suited to spicy, heavy foods than to desserts.

The only known synonym for Dornfelder is its breeding code Weinsberg S 341.