Only the best grapes produce excellent wines

Our quality claim

“Healthy, ripe grapes are the primary goal of our work – we tend our vines with great sensitivity.”

The quality of a wine depends on what is in the grapes and how they are processed. The first prerequisite is that we do not produce too much to avoid the plants to be overburdened. For years, temperatures have been rising, and rainfalls have been decreasing. To adapt our vines’ performance to these new conditions, we leave only one or two short canes when pruning in winter so that only a few fruit shoots grow.

In summer, we continue pruning and remove some of the developed grapes. The same happens partly with the leaves. Otherwise, too much sugar would accumulate in the grapes, leading to high alcohol levels. This procedure also gives us time to let all fruit components mature (physiological ripeness). In autumn, we can wait until the nights get cooler and a sophisticated aroma develops in the berries. For some grape varieties, we need to ensure that the berries do not burn in the sun but grow in the leaves’ shadow, requiring deliberate leaves management in summer.

All these measures mean a lot of manual work for our team and the helpers. In autumn, a precise harvest determines the later wine’s quality: the grapes should not be unripe – otherwise, the wines will be bitter – but also not overripe – otherwise, they lack tension. If they are differently developed, we harvest a parcel several times, only picking the perfect grapes each time. Then we bring them into the cellar as quickly and as cool as possible and process them there. Finally, depending on the type of wine, they are sorted and fermented in stainless steel, large wooden barrels, or on the skins. This is the most exciting time of the year!

Andrea Wirsching in the Julius-Echter-Berg vineyard, our top site.

Dr. Heinrich Wirsching talking with our cellar master Dr. Klaus-Peter Heigel.

Our wine grower Simon Ender is checking the degree of ripeness.

Plant protection is essential in viticulture. However, one can ensure that the plants become more resistant and are not overloaded. The most important thing is to know your vines and develop a sense of what the vineyard needs. We combine conventional and organic viticulture methods according to requirements and situations, but never for ideological reasons. We test each agent individually for toxicity and do not use any glyphosate or copper. When fertilising, we do not use industrially produced mineral fertilisers but natural products (compost, manure and organic fertiliser). To keep the soil fertile in the long term, we plant the vineyards with greenery and take care to compact them as little as possible, i.e. driving in the vineyard only when necessary. We also do not use insecticides. We aim to produce small quantities of excellent grapes and not mass production.

Since Franconia is the driest region in Germany, water will become an essential issue for us in the following years. However, we use drip irrigation to water the young plants and the vineyards in the steep upper slope, possessing only small humus layers due to erosion. We provide these plants in total with about 10 litres of water per plant 2-3 times in summer. We aim to prevent a stress or distress situation of the withering plants. They would otherwise produce distressed grapes which would not end up in a good wine. A high quantity is not what we want to achieve. The vine should develop deep roots and seek water. Only this will ensure sustainably good and mineral wines.