Franken - Edenwines

Franken lies some 65 km east of the river Rhine in Bavaria , with most of its vineyards planted on the hilly slopes lining the river Main and its tributaries. Würzburg is home of the famed vineyard Stein, which gave rise to the generic term Steinwein, formerly used to denote all Franken wines.

There are three areas or Beriech in the Franken Region and they follow the course of the river, the Maindreieck (main rectangle) and the Mainviereck (main triangle) are named after the shape of the river, the other area is the Steigerwald, from Zeil on the upper Main to the Aischgrund of Middle Franconia

These wines are fuller-bodied, are less aromatic, often drier, firmer and earthier. Franconian wines are generally the most masculine of Germany 's wines. Part of Franken wines' singular personality is due to the climate: cold winters, high annual rainfall, early frosts long, warm autumns are rare, which means that the late-ripening Riesling plays a minor role. Müller-Thurgau, Silvaner and new crossings, such as Bacchus and Kerner, are the most important white varieties. Red wine grapes thrive in the western portion of the region between Aschaffenburg and Miltenberg. The finest Franken wines are traditionally bottled in a Bocksbeutel, a squat green or brown flagon with a round body (which looks like a mateus rose bottle), which lends considerable recognition value to the region's wines. The first wine growers on the Main River came from the Carolingian tribe. In the late Middle Ages Franconia was besides Württemberg the largest German wine land with approx. 45.000 hectares vine area. The coarse types of vines and the very acid-content spicy and herbal wines at that time probably wouldn't have passed today's quality requirements. An excerpt of the list of contents: Honey, saffron, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, wormwood, liquorice, fennel, marjoram, rosemary, mint, juniper, resin, sage, etc.

These additions were prohibited in 1901 by the first German wine law.
In the Thirty Years' War the cultivation area dwindled to a fifth. But therefore the quality of the vines decisively increased due to the restriction to the warmest locations.

In 2001 the region of Franken which has 6,041 ha under vine produced 499.881 hectolitres of grape must which gives a yield of 84, 6 hectolitres per hectares this was split into 1, 0 % table wine 61, 6 % QbA wine and 37, and 4 QmP wines.

Geographical location:

East of Frankfurt on the south facing slopes lining the river Main and its tributaries.

Climate:

Continental, with warm, dry summers and cold winters.

From West to East increasingly more continental climate with strong winters, little precipitation and hot summers. High danger of late frosts.

Geology:

Weathered, primitive rock and coloured sandstone in the Spessart Hills north of Miltenberg. Shell-limestone predominates in the central district, while heavier gypsum and keuper soils are found further east, near the Steiger Forest . In Franconia are many barren stony soils of muschelkalk, gneiss, granite, or mica schist. But there are also sands, loess soils and keuper. The easy to warm up and stony soils often provide the wine with a distinctive "Bodengfährtle", i.e. a taste component that is influenced by the soil.

The geological main-formations of the vineyard-grounds in Franconia are mussel-lime into the Main-valley about Würzburg , Gipskeuper at the Steigerwald, colourful-sandstone at the Main about Miltenberg, as well as flight-sands at the Volkacher Main-bow.

Vineyard area

Major town(s): Würzburg. Three areas are defined:

6.041 ha· 4 Bereich · 24 collective vineyard sites · 218 individual sites

(See below)

Specified region Franken

(a) Sub-regions:

Edelfrau

Kallmuth

Alter Berg

Oberrot

Krähenschnabel

Kreuzfeld

Krähenschnabel

Sonnenhain

Kirchberg

GROSSLAGEN Burg

Schloßberg

Heroldsberg

Trautlestal

Altenberg

Kreuz

Altenberg

Langberg

Rubenhöll

Schloßberg

Schloßberg

Sommerleite

Schlangenberg

St Klausen

Scheinberg

Scherenberg

Gemünden

Wernleite

Herbstthal

GROSSLAGEN Rosstal

Homberg

Kalbenstein

Fronberg

Schloß

First

Stein

Bischofsberg

Im Stein

Kelter

Langenberg

GROSSLAGEN Ravensburg

Benediktusberg

Sonnleite

Johannisberg

Scharlachberg

Sommerstuhl

Weinsteig

Weinsteig

Himmelberg

Himmelberg

Sonnenschein

Wölflein

Bärental

kobersberg

GROSSLAGEN Marienberg

Abtsleite

Innere Leiste

Pfaffenberg

Schloßberg

Stein

Stein / Harfe

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Kirchberg

GROSSLAGEN Ewig Leben

Lämmerberg

Marsberg

Pfülben

Sonnenstuhl

Teufelskeller

Altenberg

GROSSLAGEN Teufelstor

Dabug

Dabug

Kapellenberg

Mönchsleite

GROSSLAGEN Ölspiel

Steinbach

Steinbach

Reifenstein

Kaiser Wilhelm

GROSSLAGEN Markgraf Babenberg

Fisher

Kapellenberg

Kehlberg

Herrenberg

Wurmberg

Königin

Feuerstein

Lämmerberg

Hasennestle

Eherieder Berg

GROSSLAGEN Hofrat

Zobelsberg

Pfaffensteig

Kanzel

Sonnenberg

Sonnenberg

Cyriakusberg

Maustal

Eselberg

Wilhelmsberg

Kitzingen Orsteil Eherieder Mühle (village )

Kaiser Karl

Kaiser Karl

Heißer Stein

Hofstück

Herrgottsweg

GROSSLAGEN Honigberg

Berg-Rondell

Sonnenleite

Sonnenleite

Unnamed sites

GROSSLAGEN Kirchberg

Glatzen

Fürstenberg

Fürstenberg

Berg

Lump

Fürstenberg

Berg

Sonnenberg

Katzenkopf

Rosenburg

Rosenburg

Kreuzberg

Kreuzberg

Vögelein

Ratsherr

Landsknecht

Karthäuser

Landsknecht

Heiligenberg

Rosenberg

Sonnenleite

Kappellenberg

Eselsberg

Höll

Mainleite

Waigolshausen

Mainleite

Zehntgraf

Mühlberg

Kreuzpfad

GROSSLAGEN Engelsburg

Katzenkopf

Rosenberg

Harfespeil

Schloßberg

Schloßpark

Pforte

Peterstirn

Mainliste

Schloßberg

Krone

Arlesgarten

GROSSLAGEN Zabelstein

Köhler

Köhler

Mönchberg

Köhler

Köhler

Falkenberg

Sonnenwinkel

Vollburg

GROSSLAGEN Steige

Herrenberg

Dachs

Stollberg

Teufel

GROSSLAGEN Kapellenberg

Sommertal

Pfarrerspflöckn

Eulengrund

Ölschnabel

Nonnenberg

Kronberg

Himmelbühl

Zell am Ebersberg (village no grosslagen )

Schloßberg

Mönchshang

Himmelreich

Henneberg

Kinnleitenberg

Schloßleite

Röthla

Spitzelberg

Weinberge

Alter Graben

GROSSLAGEN Reuschberg

Abtsberg

Luhmännchen

Schloßberg

Aloisengarten

Apostelgarten

Steinberg

Godelsberg

Pompejaner

Sanderberg

Gräfenstein

GROSSLAGEN Heiligenthal

Harstell

Reischklingeberg

Gtoßwallstadt (village no grosslagen )

Lützeltalerberg

Jesuitenberg

Johannisberg

Schalk

Hochberg

Einsiedel

Schloßberg

Bischofsberg

Klostergarten

Steingrübler

Centgrafenberg

Mainhölle

Hoher Berg

Predigtstuhl

Kaffelstein

GROSSLAGEN Schild

Altenberg

Bastel

Mariengarten

GROSSLAGEN Herrenberg

Bausch

Feuerbach

Hohnart

Kirschberg

Kugelspeil

Reitsteig

Schloßberg

Trautberg

Hüßberg

Mönchsbuck

Sonneberg

Wonne

GROSSLAGEN Schlossberg

Wutschenberg

Geißberg

Wachhügel

Kiliansberg

Schwanleite

Küchenmeister

Schwanleite

Storchenbrünnle

GROSSLAGEN Burgweg

Julius-Echter-Berg

Kalb

Kronsberg

Vogelsang

Vogelsang

Stüblein

Unnamed sites

Langenstein

Stiefel

Domherr

GROSSLAGEN Frankenberger Schlosstück

Tannenberg

Hohenbühl

Paradies

Herrschaftsberg

Rotenberg

Pfaffenberg

Altenberg

Altenberg

Hohenlandsberg

Hohenlandsberg

Hüttenberg

Hohenkottenheim

Rosenberg

GROSSLAGEN Ipsheimer Burgberg

Berg Hoheneck

Berg Hoheneck

Berg Hoheneck

Unnamed sites

Roter Berg