Am Lumpen 1655 Riesling GG
Producer: Horst Sauer
Price: €30-45 at the estate
Northern Bavaria along the Main river, where Silvaner has been documented since a 1659 planting at Castell and nearly a third of the region's wine still ships in the flat, round Bocksbeutel bottle.
Drink your way through Franken
Wine festivals coming up in Franken
All Franken wine festivalsMap of Franken
Every vineyard, tasting room, wine bar and cellar we cover in Franken, pinned. Click a pin for the page.
Signature wines of Franken
The iconic bottles that define Franken.
Centgrafenberg GG
Producer: Rudolf Fuerst
Price: €60-90 at the estate
Würzburger Stein-Berg Silvaner GG
Producer: Staatlicher Hofkeller Wuerzburg
Price: €35 at the estate
Stein-Harfe Riesling GG
Producer: Buergerspital
Price: €30-45 at the estate
Julius-Echter-Berg Silvaner GG
Producer: Hans Wirsching
Price: €30-40 at the estate
Schlossberg Silvaner GG
Producer: Fuerstlich Castellsches Domaenenamt
Price: €40-50 at the estate
Vineyards to know in Franken
A handful of the estates we send friends to when they are in Franken.
Weingut Juliusspital
Charitable Wuerzburg hospital foundation and VDP estate farming 159.6 hectares across the Maindreieck, led by Silvaner and Riesling from sites including the Wuerzburger Stein.
Weingut Buergerspital zum Heiligen Geist
Founded in 1316, this Wuerzburg charitable foundation farms 105.49 hectares on Muschelkalk soils, with Silvaner and Riesling leading a mineral-driven, terroir-first house style.
Staatlicher Hofkeller Wuerzburg
Bavaria's state wine estate, tracing its own history to 1128, farms 104.2 hectares across Muschelkalk, Keuper and Buntsandstein sites including the Wuerzburger Stein-Berg.
Weingut Horst Sauer
Escherndorf specialist farming 21.5 hectares including the VDP.Grosse Lage Am Lumpen 1655, with Silvaner and Riesling from the steep, south-facing Lump slope.
Weingut Rainer Sauer
Naturland-certified organic estate in Escherndorf farming 16.6 hectares, with Silvaner past 60 percent of plantings on the Lump and neighbouring Muschelkalk slopes.
Weingut Rudolf Fuerst
Mainviereck red-wine estate at over 60 percent Spaetburgunder and Fruehburgunder on red Buntsandstein at Buergstadt, run by Paul and Sebastian Fuerst since 2018.
Sub-appellations of Franken
Maindreieck (Main Triangle) (Maindreieck/Main Triangle/Sommerhausen/Thuengersheim/Retzstadt/Sulzfeld am Main/Frickenhausen am Main)
Shell-limestone river bends, half-timbered wine villages and the Wuerzburger Stein, Franken's Silvaner heartland.
Also: Thuengersheim, Retzstadt, Sulzfeld am Main, Frickenhausen am Main
Mainviereck (Main Square) (Mainviereck/Main Square/Churfranken/Kleinheubach/Alzenau-Michelbach)
Red sandstone terraces and Franken's most serious Spaetburgunder, a small, steep, red-wine enclave near the Bavarian-Hessian border.
Also: Alzenau-Michelbach
Steigerwald (Steigerwald/Roedelsee/Wiesenbronn)
A gypsum-keuper escarpment above rolling farmland, quieter than the Main valley, and the historic starting point of Franconian Silvaner.
Also: Wiesenbronn
Wuerzburg (Wuerzburg/Wurzburg)
A baroque river city beneath the Residence palace, with three centuries-old charitable and state wine estates within walking distance of each other.
Randersacker (Randersacker)
A tight cluster of family estates around the Sonnenstuhl slope, a wine village documented since 779.
Escherndorf (Escherndorf)
A single steep slope, the Lump, that concentrates several of Franken's best Silvaner and Riesling producers within a few hundred metres of each other.
Franken wine, FAQ
When is the best time to visit Franken for wine?
Peak wine-travel season in Franken is spring through autumn, with harvest the standout window.
Do I need an appointment to taste at Franken estates?
classified-growth and grand-cru estates require booking days to weeks ahead; smaller family domaines often take walk-ins midweek.
What hours do Franken cellars and tasting rooms keep?
most estates open 10:00 to 17:00 by appointment, often closed Sunday and Monday.
How does tipping work at Franken tastings?
tipping is not expected at tastings; buying a bottle from the cellar door is the customary thank-you.
What is the one wine to try in Franken?
If you only open one bottle, open Am Lumpen 1655 Riesling GG by Weingut Horst Sauer. It is the wine most associated with Franken.