Franconian Wine Region

Franconia grows wine where Bavaria supposedly does not: along the Main between Wurzburg and the Steigerwald escarpment, on limestone, gypsum keuper or red sandstone depending which bend you are standing at. The grape is Silvaner, made bone dry and earthy rather than floral, which is why the region never followed the sweet fashion and why its wines age better than expected. The bottle is unmistakable, a flattened round flask called the Bocksbeutel, awkward in a rack and instantly recognisable on a shelf. The Wurzburger Stein rises straight out of the city as one of the largest single vineyard sites in Germany, and downstream the river loops past Escherndorf and the terraced Vogelsburg hill at Volkach.

What you actually see

• The Wurzburger Stein - a huge terraced vineyard rising directly from the edge of the city.
• The Bocksbeutel - the flat round bottle, reserved by law to this region and a few others.
• The Main loop at Volkach - the wide river bend with vines climbing both banks.
• Iphofen - a walled wine town sitting under the Steigerwald escarpment.

When to go

May to October is the working season, with village wine festivals from June and harvest through September and October. Many estates open tasting rooms only at weekends outside the peak, and small growers prefer an appointment. Summers here are hot and dry by German standards, so vineyard walks work far better early in the morning or in the last hours of light.

Honest expectations

Wurzburg is pleasant enough but the surrounding villages are sleepy, with kitchens that close between services and almost no taxis after dark. Silvaner divides opinion because it is dry, stony and unshowy, and visitors expecting a fruity Riesling are often unimpressed. Festivals fill the small towns completely, and Bocksbeutel bottles are genuinely awkward to pack.

Nearby

Wurzburg's Residenz and old bridge, the Steigerwald forest and Rothenburg ob der Tauber to the south.