The local cheeses of Rheinhessen with the local wines that suit them, and why they work.
The cheeses of Rheinhessen with the wines made beside them. Pairings marked as a local tradition are the ones a regional source names; the rest are our own picks, and say so.
German Wikipedia says Spundekäs is classically eaten with white wine, so Rheinhessen wine houses and Straußwirtschaften serve it. It names no grape; a dry Silvaner or Riesling, with medium to high acidity, runs against the cream quark and paprika.
Bottles to try:
German Wikipedia says cider is the usual drink with Handkäse, but in some areas such as Rheinhessen and the Palatinate a dry white wine is drunk with it too. It names no grape; a dry Silvaner or Riesling suits the sharp onion marinade.
Bottles to try:
A Spundekäs bagel recipe on rheinhessen.de, the region's tourism and wine site, suggests a Scheurebe, dry or off-dry, a grape bred in Rheinhessen. It is a suggestion for that dish rather than a custom.
Bottles to try:
Handkäs mit Musik is lean, salty and sharp with vinegar and onion, and a dry Silvaner with medium acidity stays out of the marinade's way.
Bottles to try:
German Wikipedia says Mainzer Käse is served as Handkäs mit Musik, marinated in vinegar, wine, oil and onions; a dry estate or village Riesling's high acidity can match the marinade.
Bottles to try:
The Rhineland-Palatinate cheese route page of hofkaese.de, the artisan dairy association's site, says Mainz Handkäs' with Musik tastes delicious with a fine Spätlese from the Nahe, a suggestion rather than a custom. A Rheinhessen Kabinett or Spätlese's sweetness softens the vinegar and onion.
Bottles to try:
Dry Weissburgunder, with its almond note and medium acidity, is a soft partner for cream quark and sweet paprika and does not fight the onion served with it.
Bottles to try:
A Spundekäs and smoked salmon tart recipe on rheinhessen.de suggests a Chardonnay from Weingut Landgraf, a pick for that dish rather than a custom. Dry French-oak Rheinhessen Chardonnay brings a creamy, full-bodied texture to the quark.
Bottles to try:
The fine mousse and high acidity of a dry traditional-method Sekt, 36 to 60 months on lees, cut the richness of the cream quark and answer the paprika.
Bottles to try:
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It is the traditional marinade of onions, vinegar and oil with pepper and salt. German Wikipedia says the name allegedly hints at the noises onions cause in digestion, and gives a second theory about vinegar and oil bottles once clinking when served.
Only the name Hessischer Handkäse, registered as a PGI by Commission Regulation (EU) 784/2010. Since September 2010 only sour-milk cheese made and packed in Hesse may carry it, though the quark need not come from Hesse. Handkäse as a type is not protected.
German Wikipedia says cider is the usual drink with Handkäse, but that in some areas such as Rheinhessen and the Palatinate a dry white wine is drunk with it as well.
Close, and the names overlap: in Mainz and the Rhine-Main area Mainzer Käse is simply called Handkäs. Both are small sour-milk cheeses of low-fat quark, but German Wikipedia notes that Handkäse can also be made as a white-mould cheese, which Mainzer Käse is not.
From Groß-Gerau in Hesse, across the Rhine from Mainz. German Wikipedia says it was created there in 1813 and sold at the Mainz market, and Käserei Horst's company history dates the area's cheese-making to the same year.
Often as Handkäs mit Musik, marinated in vinegar, wine, oil and onions, and offered with or without caraway.
In the basic recipe, two parts cream cheese and three parts cream quark, pepper, salt and sweet paprika, with onions served over or beside it. Many cooks add butter, egg yolk, Schmand or crème fraîche.
Salt or lye pretzels as a dip, or hearty bread as a spread, according to German Wikipedia; rheinhessen.de says dry bread or salted baked goods, especially lye pretzels.
