Franconia/Franken

This wine-growing region in Germany has a total vineyard area of 6.040 hectares. It is located in the northern part of the federal state of Bavaria, between the cities of Aschaffenburg and Schweinfurt, the Main river flows through the region in a W-shape. All the vineyards are located on south-facing slopes on the banks of the Main river, or on its tributaries. Wine-growing has a very long tradition here, as is evidenced by a gifting deed to the Fulda abbey dated 777 AD, in which the Königsgut Hammelburg (royal wine estate) with eight vineyards (what is now the Schloss Saaleck palace with the Schlossberg vineyard site) was presented to the abbey. A document describing the borders between the towns of Randersacker and Würzburg, dated 14 October 779, was signed by Charlemagne (742-814). The centre of the region is the baroque city of Würzburg, where the famous „Würzburger Stein” vineyard is to be found, which in the past was considered to be a sysnonym for Franken wine in general. There was a saying in medieval times that „Frankenwein ist Krankenwein” (wine from Franken is good for sick people). The German writer Kurt Tucholsky (1890-1935) described Franken wine as „deep and pure like the sound of a bell”. The growing region is divided into three districts, Maindreieck, Mainviereck and Steigerwald. These include 23 regional sites and 216 individual vineyard sites. Well-known wine-growing towns, with their most famous vineyard sites, are: Abtswind with Altenberg; Bürgstadt with Centgrafenberg and Mainhölle; Castell with Bausch and Schlossberg; Erlabrunn with Weinsteig; Escherndorf with Fürstenberg and Lump; Frickenhausen with Kapellenberg; Greuth with Bastel; Großheubach with Bischofsberg; Homburg with Edelfrau and Kallmuth; Iphofen with Julius-Echter-Berg, Kalb and Kronsberg; Karlstadt with Im Stein; Klingenberg with Schlossberg; Kreuzwertheim with Kaffelstein; Lengfurt with Alter Berg and Oberrot; Nordheim with Kreuzberg and Vögelein; Randersacker with Marsberg, Pfülben and Sonnenstuhl; Retztstadt with Langenberg; Rödelsee with Küchenmeister and Schwanleite; Sommerach with Rosenberg; Sommerhausen with Steinbach; Thüngersheim with Johannisberg and Scharlachberg; Volkach with Karthäuser, Kirchberg and Ratsherr; as well as Würzburg with Abtsleite, Innere Leiste, Pfaffenberg and Stein.

The region has a continental climate with dry warm summers and cold winters. The soils consist of decomposed bedrock and coloured sandstone in the Mainviereck district in Unterfranken and in the Spessart areas, of clay, loess and shell limestone soils in the Maindreieck close to Wertheim and Miltenberg, and keuper soils in the Steigerwald district. More than 40% of all wines are bottled in the famous Bocksbeutel bottle. This bottle shape has been in use for centuries, and enjoys (with a few exceptions) legal protection specifically for quality wines from Franken. A wine route is also named after the bottle shape.

The best-known producers include Bickel-Stumpf, Blendel Michael, Braun Waldemar, Brennfleck, Brügel, Bürgerspital, Burrlein, Emmerich Werner, Erhard Walter, Fröhlich Michael, Fürstlich Castell´sches Domänenamt, Fürst Löwenstein, Fürst Rudolf, Hart Privat-Weingut, Höfler Bernd, Juliusspital, Max Müller I, May Rudolf, Reiss Christian, Roth Gerhard, Ruck, Sauer Horst, Schloss Sommerhausen, Schmitts Kinder, Staatlicher Hofkeller Würzburg, Stahl Albrecht, Steinmann Artur, Stich Gerhard, Störrlein, Trockene Schmitts, Weingut Am Lump, Weingut Am Stein, Weltner, Winzergenossenschaft Nordheim, Winzer Sommerach, Wirsching und Zur Schwane. Around 80% of producers are members of the Weinbauring Franken association. Around 90% of vines planted are white varieties. The rather harsh climate means that Riesling is significantly less important here than it is in other German wine-growing regions. Müller-Thurgau, which was first planted in Retzstadt in 1925, ist he dominant variety. The second most important variety is Silvaner, described as the ”king of Franken”.
Vineyard plantings as at 2001:
Variety Synonyms Colour Hectares % share
Müller-Thurgau Rivaner White 2.534 42,0
Silvaner Grüner Silvaner White 1.252 20,7
Bacchus - White 748 12,4
Kerner - white 335 5,5
Riesling Weißer Riesling White 251 4,2
Pinot Noir Spätburgunder Red 207 3,4
Scheurebe Sämling 88 White 140 2,3
Pinot Meunier Schwarzriesling, Müllerrebe Red 81 1,3
Dornfelder - Red 78 1,3
Blauer Portugieser Portugieser Red 73 1,2
Pinot Blanc Weißburgunder White 47 0,8
Perle - White 41 0,7
Traminer Roter Traminer White 34 0,6
Pinot Gris Ruländer, Grauburgunder White 27 0,4
Ortega - White 26 0,4
Regent - Red 24 0,4
Faberrebe - White 17 0,3
Mariensteiner - White 16 0,3
Morio-Muskat Morio White 5 0,1
Optima - White 4 0,1
Chardonnay - White 3 0,1
White varieties 5.377 89,0
Red varieties 662 11,0
TOTAL 6.040 100