About Obazda

Obazda, also written Obatzter, is a cold cheese spread from Bavaria, usually eaten on bread. The EU specification requires Camembert and/or Brie (at least 40 percent of the product, at least 50 percent cheese in all), butter, paprika and salt; onion, caraway, herbs, cream, milk and beer are optional. German Wikipedia says that in Franconia the preparation is called Gerupfter or angemachter Camembert, in and around Bamberg sometimes Liptauer, and that Franconian cooks add wine to it while in Old Bavaria beer goes in. Obazda and Obatzter were entered in the EU register as a PGI on 26 June 2015.

Made in: Bavaria: all processing of the ingredients must take place in the Free State of Bavaria; the raw materials may come from elsewhere. Called Gerupfter or angemachter Camembert in Franconia

On the plate

Light orange and spreadable, with recognisable pieces of cheese. Smell and taste are savoury and aromatic: slightly piquant from ripe Camembert or Brie, made milder by butter, with paprika rounding off the flavour.

Rind: none, eaten fresh

Wine and cheese

What to pour with Obazda

Dry village and estate Silvaner Franken

Our pick

A dry, medium-bodied Silvaner with medium acidity is an easy partner for a paprika-seasoned spread at a Brotzeit: it has enough freshness for the butter and does not compete with the spice. German Wikipedia says Franconian cooks add wine to the spread itself.

4.0 Würzburger Silvaner Trocken Weingut Juliusspital 3.9 Randersacker Silvaner Staatlicher Hofkeller Wuerzburg 3.9 JUST Silvaner Weingut Horst Sauer 3.9 Silvaner Weingut Rainer Sauer

Dry Riesling (estate to premier-cru) Franken

Our pick

Dry Riesling with high acidity and a light to medium body: the acidity cuts the butter and soft cheese of the spread, and the lean frame leaves the paprika in front.

4.4 Würzburger Stein Riesling VDP.Erste Lage Weingut Buergerspital zum Heiligen Geist 4.2 Casteller Hohnart Riesling Trocken Fuerstlich Castell'sches Domaenenamt 4.0 Riesling Trocken Randersacker Weingut Schmitt's Kinder 4.2 Escherndorfer Lump Riesling Weingut Michael Froehlich

Dry Silvaner, Riesling and Weissburgunder blend Franken

Our pick

A dry three-grape white of Silvaner, Riesling and Weissburgunder from premier-cru sites, medium-bodied with medium acidity and a long finish; a rounder, more layered partner for the spread than a simple Silvaner.

4.2 Kapellenberg Fränkischer Gemischter Satz Trocken Weingut Bickel-Stumpf 4.2 Homburger Kallmuth Dreiklang Weingut Fuerst Loewenstein

Dry traditional-method Sekt Franken

Our pick

Dry bottle-fermented Sekt with high acidity: the freshness and the bubbles clear the palate of butter and salt between bites of a paprika-seasoned spread.

4.2 Chardonnay Sekt Extra Brut Weingut Paul Weltner 4.2 Spätburgunder Blanc de Noir Brut Weingut Glaser-Himmelstoss 4.5 Le Grand Blanc Schloss Sommerhausen 4.4 La Grande Cuvée Brut Nature Schloss Sommerhausen

Dry premier-cru Silvaner Franken

Our pick

Dry single-site Silvaner from Erste Lage vineyards, medium-bodied with medium acidity: it has the freshness to cut the butter and salt of the spread, and a little more depth than the village bottlings.

4.4 Würzburger Stein Silvaner Trocken VDP.Erste Lage Weingut Juliusspital 4.3 Würzburger Stein Silvaner 1G Jubiläumswein Weingut Buergerspital zum Heiligen Geist 4.4 Silvaner S. Weingut Horst Sauer 4.4 Silvaner "L" Weingut Rainer Sauer

Dry Müller-Thurgau Franken

Our pick

A light-bodied, dry Müller-Thurgau with medium acidity: a fresh, undemanding partner for a buttery, paprika-seasoned spread, with no weight to compete with the cheese.

3.7 Müller-Thurgau Trocken Weingut Buergerspital zum Heiligen Geist 3.7 Frank & Frei Weingut Michael Froehlich 3.7 Rivaner Trocken Weingut Egon Schaeffer

Dry premier-cru Scheurebe Franken

Our pick

Dry Scheurebe from premier-cru sites, an aromatic white with medium body and high acidity: its aromatics hold up beside the paprika while the acidity cuts the butter.

4.2 Johannisberg Scheurebe Trocken Weingut Bickel-Stumpf 4.1 Scheurebe Schwanleite Weingut Paul Weltner 4.1 Thüngersheimer Johannisberg Scheurebe Trocken Weingut Gregor Schwab

Off-dry Kabinett Riesling Franken

Our pick

Off-dry Kabinett Riesling, light-bodied with high acidity: a little sweetness against the salt and paprika of the spread, and acidity against the butter.

4.1 Hörsteiner Abtsberg Riesling Kabinett Staatlicher Hofkeller Wuerzburg 4.0 Casteller Riesling Kabinett Fuerstlich Castell'sches Domaenenamt

Dry Spätburgunder rosé Franken

Our pick

A light, dry organic Spätburgunder rosé from Randersacker with medium acidity, a fresh counter to the salt and paprika of the Brotzeit spread.

3.8 Rosé Trocken Weingut Schmitt's Kinder

Dry white cuvée with Müller-Thurgau Franken

Our pick

Light-bodied dry white cuvées with Müller-Thurgau in the blend and medium acidity: easy, fresh wines for a Brotzeit spread that is salty and paprika-seasoned.

3.9 St. Veit Trocken Weingut Hans Wirsching 3.7 Le Blanc Trocken Weingut Schmitt's Kinder 3.6 enjoy white Weingut Gregor Schwab

Dry Spätburgunder (village and estate) Franken

Our pick

A medium-bodied dry Spätburgunder with fresh acidity: enough freshness for a creamy, paprika-seasoned spread, without the weight of the grand-cru reds. The red option for the Brotzeit table.

4.2 Bürgstadter Spätburgunder Weingut Rudolf Fuerst 4.2 Klingenberg Spätburgunder Alte Reben VDP.Weingut Steintal 4.0 Tradition Weingut Rudolf Fuerst 3.9 Spätburgunder Weingut Hoefler

The grapes behind these winesSilvanerRieslingSpaetburgunderMueller-ThurgauScheurebeWeissburgunder

From the source

Where to buy and taste it

Käseecke Waltmann

Cheese shop Erlangen, Friedrichstraße

Cheese shop and affineur in Erlangen, open since 1983, ripening raw-milk cheeses in a brick cellar under the shop; its range includes Fränkischer Weinkäse, a Lower Franconian farm cheese.

Käse Hammer

Cheese shop Randersacker, near Würzburg

Cheese shop in the wine village of Randersacker, about 4 km from central Würzburg, open Friday afternoon and Saturday morning; owner Jürgen Hammer is a cheese sommelier and offers tastings and seminars.

Cheese experiences nearby

Cheese-making course at the Schmalzmühle

ClassRöckingen, HesselbergBookable by groups year-round except Sundays and public holidays. The open 2026 dates (7 April, 26 May, 18 July, 4 and 25 August, each at 13:00) were all held.

Hands-on cheese making in 5-litre pots at the Schmalzmühle in Röckingen, with a small tasting of the farm's cheese and a look into the creamery or the barn at the end.

Cheese seminar (Käseseminar) at the Schmalzmühle

ClassRöckingen, HesselbergBookable by groups year-round except Sundays and public holidays.

At the Schmalzmühle in Röckingen each table gets a pot of milk to make cheese, then four courses of the farm's cheese with home-baked bread; guests take their own cheese home.

Cheese school at the Berghof

ClassSchöllkrippen, KahlgrundHeld on 26 and 29 August 2026, 14:00 to 17:00; further dates and group bookings on request.

At the Berghof in Schöllkrippen each guest gets a pot of milk and makes cheese with the farm's cheesemaker, then tastes its cheeses at a buffet with side dishes and drinks.

Obazda: questions

What is Gerupfter in Franconia?

German Wikipedia says that in Franken the Obazda preparation is called Gerupfter or angemachter Camembert (also Angemachter), and in and around Bamberg sometimes Liptauer.

Is Obazda a protected name?

Yes. Obazda and Obatzter are a protected geographical indication in the EU eAmbrosia register (file PGI-DE-1069), registered on 26 June 2015. All processing of the ingredients must happen in Bavaria, though the raw materials may come from elsewhere.

What goes into it?

The EU specification requires Camembert and/or Brie (at least 40 percent of the product; Romadur, Limburger or fresh cheese may be added, at least 50 percent cheese in all), butter, paprika powder or extract and salt. Onion, caraway, other spices and herbs, cream, milk and beer are optional.

Plan the trip

Visit Obazda country

Tastings and tours where it is made, and somewhere to stay.

Booking links go to our partners (GetYourGuide, Viator, Zen Hotels), who may pay us a commission. It never decides what we cover. Editorial standards.

Sources: protection register, ec.europa.eu, de.wikipedia.org. The drawing is made from the cheese's recorded shape, rind and paste, not a photograph.

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