Fruit & Raw Material

The cherry trees around Oberkirch are tall standard trees, so tall that ladders are needed for harvest. They grow at the edge of the Rhine Rift Valley, where the climate is mild and fruit growing has belonged to the farms for centuries. This holds true for the Renchtal as much as for the rest of the Ortenau and the neighboring Achertal.

It's not the cherry from the market that gets distilled. Distilling cherries are small, dark, and intense in aroma. Large table cherries are bred for the fruit basket, not the glass.

Three old varieties are in demand again in Oberkirch: the Meisenbühler Schlapper, the Schwarze Schüttler, and the Rencher Wegkirsche. They are considered especially aromatic and resistant to disease.

This is thanks to the initiative "Jungland," an alliance of fruit growers founded about five years ago. Those who plant and tend old varieties are guaranteed both a buyer and a price; the Brennerei Fies helped launch the alliance. This way, farmers know from the moment of planting where their fruit will eventually go.

This matters because a standard tree only bears fruit after many years, then yields a harvest for decades. Planting one means planning for the next generation. The legislature justifies the reduced tax rate for Abfindungsbrenner on exactly these grounds: traditional orchard meadows should be preserved.

Harvest takes place in summer, when the fruit is fully ripe, since only then does it contain enough sugar for fermentation. Alongside the cherry, the Renchtal also grows the Zwetschge plum, from which Schwarzwälder Zwetschgenwasser is made. It too carries a stone, which colors the brandy: in the background lies a fine, slightly bitter almond note.