6 editor-picked estates growing Rieslaner in Franken.
Where to taste Rieslaner in Franken: the estates that grow it, how the region expresses the grape, and how to book a visit.
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.
Tasting: Sales and events desks at the Rosenbachpalais on Residenzplatz, adjoining the Wuerzburg Residence cellars.
Tip: The cellars sit beneath the Wuerzburg Residence, a UNESCO site, so pair a tasting with the palace tour.
The Steigerwald's founding Silvaner estate on gypsum keuper, site of the earliest documented Franconian Silvaner planting on 6 April 1659, farming 73.4 hectares today.
Tasting: Vinothek tastings and cellar tours at the Schlossplatz estate office.
Tip: The estate's own records cite 25 vines planted in 1659, ask staff to point out the historical planting documentation.
Ten-generation Randersacker family estate farming 13.2 hectares of shell-limestone Sonnenstuhl, Marsberg and Pfuelben sites, with Silvaner leading the range.
Tasting: Weekday and Saturday cellar-door sales in Randersacker.
Tip: Randersacker's Sonnenstuhl site runs 50 hectares total; ask which parcel the current Grosses Gewaechs comes from.
Sales and tasting desk of Bavaria's state wine estate in the Rosenbachpalais on Residenzplatz, adjoining the cellar labyrinth beneath the Wuerzburg Residence, a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1981.
Tasting room of the Graf von Schoenborn family's Bioland-certified Schloss Hallburg estate, set in a former Celtic refuge fortress above the Main loop, farming 35 hectares since the family took over in 1806.
Fifth-generation Sommerach family estate working from an 18th-century courtyard, known for aromatic Traminer, Scheurebe and Rieslaner bottlings.
Tip: Look for the Scheurebe Sekt alongside the still wines; it is a less-common style for the estate's home village.