Franken doesn’t trip off the tongue in a list of Germany’s greatest winemaking regions, but it ought to. The Fursts have been farming sites here since 1638, and the quality of their terroir has elevated the winery to one of Germany’s very finest. They really rose to greatness after 1975, when Paul Furst took over. He focused on buying plots on the Centgrafenburg, a steep, concave site above the River Main, and arguably Franken’s finest spot. Vines here benefit from both reflected sunlight and the moderating effect of the river on temperatures, and grapes cultivated here achieve depth and complexity when grapes grown on the flat might even struggle to ripen.

They are especially notable for their Spatburgunders. In the wake of the Second World War, most producers planted high-yielding Pinot Noir clones, but when Paul took over, he replanted with high-quality German and Dijon Pinot Noir clones. In 2008, Paul passed over red-winemaking duties to his Burgundy-trained son Sebastian (while keeping whites for himself). It’s gone well, with Paul delighted that Sebastian has ‘shown more interest in meticulous artisanal wine production than in exaggerated modern winemaking’. In the vineyard, Sebastian says Pinot needs to suffer to give its best – in summer, he prefers to see the leaves lime green rather than dark green, as that implies they are suffering the right amount of hydric stress. Sebastian has always liked to include a significant proportion of whole clusters in his Pinot Noir fermentations, as he believes that stem tannins are the finest sort, while Paul vinifies the whites in a deliberately reductive style to preserve the balance between fresh fruit, minerality and acidity. (NT 11/08/25)