Weingut Rudolf Fürst

The winery is located in the municipality of Bürgstadt in the German wine-growing region of Franconia and there in the south-western area of the Main valley between Spessart and Odenwald with the name Churfrankn. The Fürst family has been growing grapes since 1638. In 1979, Paul and Monika Fürst built a new estate building in the middle of the vineyards of Bürgstadt's Centgrafenberg. Paul Fürst, who has been running the winery together with his son Sebastian since 2007, is one of the pioneers of barrique vinification in Germany. Viticulture engineer Sebastian Schür is responsible for the outside operation.

The vineyards comprise 21 hectares of vines in the single vineyard sites Centgrafenberg and Hundsrück (Bürgstadt) with Pinot Noir and Riesling, as well as Bischofsberg (Großheubach), Karthäuser (Volkach) and Schlossberg (Klingenberg). The red wine varieties Pinot Noir ( Spätburgunder) with a good half of the stock and Frühburgunder, as well as the white wine varieties Riesling, Weißburgunder (Pinot Blanc), Chardonnay and Silvaner are cultivated. With the exception of the Astheim vineyards, which stand on stony shell limestone, the sites in Churfranken are characterised by the highly ferruginous red sandstone soils. The vineyards are cultivated with a high number of vines (up to 16,000 vines per hectare), the best seedlings, grapes planted close to the ground, a constant supply of humus, soil care and targeted plant protection. A large part of the vineyards is well over 35 years old. A great deal of attention and work is put into the care of the old vines and thorough replanting in order to support the potential of the terroir-dominated wines. Compost enriched with rock dust and plant charcoal is another strong factor in soil management. Through rigorous thinning and selective harvesting, only healthy and high quality grapes are processed.

Vinification is carried out under the principle of low-technology with as little intervention as possible. After the open maceration, the red wines are matured for 12 to 20 months in Burgundian barrels (228 litres). After self-clarification, they are bottled without filtration. After gentle pressing, the white wines are fermented in small and large wooden barrels as well as in stainless steel tanks and mature for 6 to 18 months. The premium wines include Centgrafenberg GG Riesling and Hundsrück GG Spätburgunder. Around 120,000 bottles of wine are produced annually. Bottle-fermented sparkling wines and fruit brandies are also produced. The winery is a member of theVDP (Association of German Prädikat Wine Estates) and one of the five Franconian TRIAS wineries.