Region: Franken, Germany

Varietal: 100% Silvaner

Tasting notes: Franken has a reputation as a traditionalist, but this is a cool modern wine. A slew of yellow-apple and ripe-pear aromas pull you into this unusually juicy dry silvaner that has a very neat balance of full fruit, discreet tannins and lively acidity. Good length.

Producer: Weingut Hans Wirsching is one of the largest privately owned family estates in Germany, situated in the picturesque medieval town of Iphofen in Franconia, 1.4 hours east of Frankfurt. Now in its 14th generation, the Wirsching family with CEO Andrea Wirsching produces 37,000 cases on 225 acres of vineyards. They focus on Silvaner (40%), the signature grape of the Franconian wine area. 20% of their vineyards are planted with Riesling, the classical German grape, and 7% with Scheurebe, a fruity grape with aromas like Sauvignon Blanc.

Vineyard and Winemaking: The Wirsching estate dates to 1630, when Hans Wirsching donated a vineyard to the Abbey at Ebrach. Over the next several centuries, the Wirschings continued their love for, and involvement in, the business of agriculture and wine growing. In the late 19th century, the family almost gave up winemaking as the phylloxera louse devastated the European wine industry. It was a young Hans Wirsching who, in 1918 at age 23 and returning from World War I, made the decision to put all his energy into restoring the vineyards. He not only restarted the winery, but also began the painstaking process of replanting the vineyards with American rootstock. The soils in this part of Franconia consist largely of “Keuper” or Jurassic Clay, a sediment stone from 220 million years ago, when dinosaurs walked through what was then swamps. Layers of Gypsum within that stone add an alkaloid which give the wines low to moderate acidity. The wines of Iphofen are full bodied with hints of herbaceous aromas and elegant fruit components.