📍 Franconia

Franconia (Franken in German) is a wine region in northern Bavaria, Germany, along the Main river and its tributaries, around the city of Würzburg. The area lies away from the Rhine regions and its climate is more continental: summers are warm, winters cold, and spring frosts are a danger to the vines. Soils are limestone and marl, including shell limestone and Keuper.

The most recognisable grape of Franconia is Silvaner, a white that gives dry, full wines with an earthy, spicy taste here. Müller-Thurgau and Bacchus are widely planted, Riesling less so. Among reds there is Domina, a German grape bred in the 20th century. The wines are often dry and rich, with good structure.

The wine is bottled in a special squat flat flask called the Bocksbeutel, a shape found only in Franconia and a few other places. The region is divided into three parts: Mainviereck, Maindreieck and Steigerwald. The regional wine with a geographical indication is called Landwein Main.

For comparison with its neighbours: to the west lie Rheingau and Rheinhessen with Riesling, to the south Baden and Württemberg, and to the north Thuringia and Saale-Unstrut.