The estate is located in the town of Burgstadt in the Franken wine-growing region in Germany. The Fürst family has been involved in wine production since 1638. In 1979, Paul and Monika Fürst built a new manor house amidst the vineyards of the Bürgstadter Centgrafenberg site. The total vineyard area is just on 17 hectares, of which 11 hectares are on the south-facing slope of the Centgrafenberg site. The soil is predominantly decomposed, eroded coloured sandstone, which is particularly suitable for Riesling and Pinot Noir. The remainder of the vineyards is spread around in the three communes of Großheubach (Bischofsberg), Volkach (Karthäuser) and Klingenberg (Schlossberg) auf. Grape varieties planted are Pinot Noir (7,1 ha), Riesling (2,5 ha), Pinot Blanc (2 ha), Pinot Madeleine (1,6 ha), Silvaner (1,3 ha), Domina (0,4 ha), Rieslaner (0,3 ha) and Gewürztraminer. Great attention is paid to the care of the vineyards, followed by rigorous pruning and canopy management, green harvest and selective harvest. In some cases whole bunch pressing is employed. For specific wines, such as Trockenbeerenauslese, Eiswein and special red wines, a hydraulic basket press is used. The name of Paul Fürst is synonymous with high-quality barrique-matured wines. Sparkling wines and fruit-based spirits are also produced. The estate is a member of the VDP (Verband deutscher Prädikats- und Qualitäts-Weingüter) association, and one of the five Franken estates in the TRIAS association.
The vintage 2006
At this stage, no English translation is yet available.
For a machine-generated translation, please click here: View text in Google Translate
Franconia/Franken
Chardonnay, White wine, QbA, dry, Karthäuser, 24.00 €
The master of barrique maturation has presented a superb range of Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris wines of the 2001 vintage, matured in new oak, as well as Pinot Noirs of the 2000 vintage that are simply unequalled in the region, and indeed in Germany. Nobody else in Germany manages to regularly bring out such crystal-clear Burgundian fruit that is never in danger of being dominated by the wood, which remains totally subordinate. If further proof were needed, the Riesling of the 2001 vintage also serves to confirm Fürst's rightful place among the very top echelon of German wine producers.
Franconia/Franken: Volkach
Karthäuser, Spätburgunder, Red wine, QbA, dry, 36.00 €
The wines of the 2000 vintage have all, without exception, been produced with meticulous care, and are very enjoyable to drink. However, they do not aspire to the same heights as those of their counterparts of the 1999 vintage. A characteristic of this vintage is that the wines produced from the Volkacher Karthäuser vineyard are showing a little better than those from the vineyards in Bürgstadt. The firmly structured "Alter Satz" has turned out much better than its predecessor, and is likely to improve further with a bit of bottle age.
Franconia/Franken: Volkach
Karthäuser, Riesling, White wine, late harvest (Spaetlese), dry, 12.78 €
I would be not at all surprised if my awarded points were to be seen as being too low in a year or two. Each and every wine in this range impressed with its absolute purity of fruit, and its elegant structure. In the case of the dry wines, the first hints of a firm mineral structure can already be guessed at, while the youthful fruitiness of the sweeter wines still dominates, and keeps the mineral structure in the background at this stage. The Rieslaner Auslese suffers a little from this, since the lemonade character still dominates. Whereas the dry Riesling Kabinett appears to be a bit light in its current stage of development, I have the impression that the Spätlese has even more concentration and structure than the outstanding 1997 vintage, which is only just beginning to reveal its true breeding (90 points). As predicted after the initial barrel tastings, the red wines of the 1999 vintage are all of outstanding quality. Never before have the Pinot Noirs here been as good as in this vintage. Once again, Paul Fürst has demonstrated that he is a master of the barrique. In this respect, hardly anybody in Germany is in the same class.
Home
|
Subscription
RSS
Contact
Newsletter
Search
German
Homepage
Contact
Readers letter (so far 0)