Wirtschaftsregion Mainfranken

Along the River Main, its tributaries and on the western slopes
of the Steigerwald, there are ideal conditions for growing white
and red wine grapes. The continental climate, with around 1,750
hours of sunshine, only around 600 millimetres of precipitation
per square meter (both figures per year), cold winters and very
warm summers, supports the winegrowers in their efforts to
offer very distinctive, unmistakably Franconian wines. However,
the typical Triassic soil formations of red sandstone, shell
limestone and keuper also help clearly distinguish the wines’
terroir from other regions’ products.
Family structures are characteristic of Franconian winegrowing.
The 6,200 hectares of vineyards are cultivated by about 3,000
winegrowing families. The majority are small vineyards with less
than half a hectare. The number of vineyards with more than
ten hectares of cultivated land is steadily increasing. Around 30
per cent of Franconia’s vineyards are cultivated by winegrowers
who have joined together to form winegrowers’ cooperatives,
press the grapes from their own vineyards centrally, produce
wine from them and market it jointly under a single name.
Information
25 per cent of the wines are Silvaner, which is therefore
the most common grape variety in Franconia. Franconia
is internationally known and distinguished for this
autochthonous grape variety, which has been at home
here since 1659. Franconian Silvaner wine has won many
competitions, proving that Franconia produces the best
Silvaner wines in the world. Müller-Thurgau comes in
second place, growing on around 22 per cent of the
vineyard area. Bacchus, Riesling, Pinot Blanc and Pinot
Gris are other varieties from the typically Franconian
range. The popular Franconian red wines, especially Pinot
Noir, Domina, Dornfelder and Regent, grow on around 18
per cent of the area.
With an annual production of approx. 450,000 hectolitres of
wine, the Franconian wine region is one of the small regions
in the European and global winegrowing environment. However,
the people of Main Franconia are convinced that it is
pre cisely these very strong family, regional roots and the clear,
un mistakable profile of Franconian wine that offer more opportunities
than risks for Franconian winegrowers in the context of
increasing globalisation. After the opening up of the East, the
Franconian wine country is now situated in the heart of Europe,
accessible to everyone, tangible for everyone, to be experienced
by everyone. The winegrowers have a face and a voice, and the
typical bottles, the Bocksbeutel, have an unmistakable shape.
The association Fränkischer Weinbauverband e. V. oversees the
European-wide patent, which guarantees the use of this unique
bottle shape almost exclusively for Franconian winemakers.
The Bocks beutel is a clear differentiator that clearly defines
the origin of the contents like no other bottle: Bocksbeutel is
Franconia, and almost 30 per cent of all Franconian wines reach
the consumer in Bocksbeutel, many of them boasting medals
and prizes on the label.
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