20213041_WGDE2021_ENGL

FRANKEN | A PORTRAIT OF THE REGION
will strike gold with a madman like Andi
Weigand, an anarchist like Laura Seufert
or experimentalists like the Krämers. And
by the way, for me all these attributes are
positive.
But no matter into which camps you want
to assign these people, the former, the
latter or anywhere in between, there is no
shortage of stubbornness and that’s
precisely why the wines are so good!
VINEYARD CHAT
These vineyards are stony! That’s just
great when you stand there at a perceived
heat of 50°C/122°F. Then there’s the killer
steepness, better still, when you lose your
footing, like I did when I worked for the
“Trockene Schmitts” in the Randersackerer
Pfülben. But despite my whinging; it was
fun to be in the vineyard with these
winemakers. It is wonderful to experience
with how much passion the vines are
tended. Like children. Like tiny
Silvaner- babies, or something like that. In
any case, stubbornness defines the
Franconian vineyard. Nothing is left to
chance. One leaf too many during deleafing
is a gross mistake on the part of
the trainee and prompts a renewed lecture
The masterminds behind Weingut Trockene
Schmitts: brothers Bruno and Paul Schmitt
and Paul’s son Lothar
on the art of canopy management. Things
just have to be done properly. But exactly
that attention to detail results in great
wine in the end. The vine and its fruit:
that’s what everything hinges on in the
end.
But this also is true: “You have to trust
your vines,” one of the winemakers told
me. And yet I do not know a greater
mechanic and machine-freak than
Photos: Photography was provided
Weingut Juliusspital – the biggest grower
of Silvaner in the world
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