Weingut Alte Grafschaft
(Winery in Franconia)

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About Winery and Wines

The Winery Alte Grafschaft is today owned by Christoph Dinkel & Norbert Spielmann, two wine enthusiasts who take care of the 11 hectares of vineyards, mainly in steep hillsides. The Varieties are Pinot Noir, Riesling, Pinot Blanc, and some other typical German vines, like Müller-Thurgau, Silvaner, Bacchus & Scheurebe. The Building with its historic court is from 1594. Here in summer, you are always welcome to bring your food (Pick Nick) and we will serve the wines. But also during wintertime, you can enjoy and taste our wines in different tasting rooms. After taking over the winery in 2009 and a lot of renovation, as investments in vineyards and cellar, we were very proud to receive the award "Discovery of the Year 2014" by the Gault & Millau Wine Guide, the leading Guide in Wine in Germany. As we continue to improve the quality by working hard in the vineyards, we see our Pinot Noir on the very best winelists in German Restaurants. Our goal is to show that our wines from these very old vineyards which have existed for more than 800 years can be drunk on the same table next to the very best of the world.

Following the partition of the County of Wertheim by Napoleon in 1803, we have succeeded in reuniting the two best steep vineyards on the territory of the old county in a single estate after centuries of separation. These are the KAFFELSTEIN in the Bavarian Main valley (Franken) and the SATZENBERG in Baden’s Tauber valley (Tauberfranken). The use of cultivation machinery in these two vineyards is impossible, which explains why the input of labor is significantly higher. We grow vines in much the same way as in Napoleon’s time and before – entirely by hand. And this is something our wines benefit from. It is from these slopes that come the estate’s showpiece wines that lend perfect expression to the terroir of the two vineyards. Extremely subtle, these wines exhibit the best characteristics of the various vines, the soil, and the extraordinary microclimate. Honest growths with a mineral quality and an unmistakable character.

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Wineries to visit in Franconia