Ahr, Mittelrhein, Franken

Question 1

What is the world’s most northerly wine region dedicated to red wine production?

Answer 1

Ahr!

Question 2

What parallel is Ahr located on?

Answer 2

50th

Question 3

What percentage of wine in Ahr is red

Answer 3

88%
-Guild Somm says Spätburgunder along with its early-ripening mutation Frühburgunder, accounts for almost 70% of the Ahr’s planted acreage.

Question 4

What is the dominant grape of Ahr

Answer 4

Spätburgunder

Question 5

What mountain range shelters the vineyards of Ahr from cold wines?

Answer 5

Eifel Mountains

Question 6

What is warmer, Ahr or Mosel?

Answer 6

Ahr!

Question 7

What soil of Ahr provides warmth

Answer 7

Rocky, volcanic Slate

Question 8

Climate of Ahr

Answer 8

Continental (VDP says mediterranean)

Question 9

What are the major villages from West to East of the Ahr?

Answer 9

Altenghr
Mayschoss
Dernau
Walporzheim
Ahrweiler
Bad Neuenahr

Question 10

Sole Bereiche of Ahr

Answer 10

Walporzheim-Ahrtal

Question 11

Sole grosslage of Ahr

Answer 11

Klosterberg

Question 12

Top producers in Ahr

Answer 12

-Meyer-Näkel - located in Dernau
-Kreuzberg - located in Dernau
Jean Stodden
J. Adeneuer

Question 13

Is barrique ever used in Ahr?

Answer 13

Sometimes for high end cuvees to create richer style

Question 14

At the 50th parallel, how is Pinot Noir able to ripe in the Ahr?

Answer 14

-East-west orientation
-moderating benefits from the Gulf Stream
-long growing season
-whole region is a canyon, protected from wind and rain amidst the low Eifel Mountains
-Almost all Ahr vineyard rows run down the slopes (north-south) in order to maximize sun exposure

Question 15

What is the difference in terroir between the Upper and Lower Ahr?

Answer 15

Upper:
-some of the most ancient vineyards planted here
-pure slate soils
-Phylloxera is non existent
-Trained in the single post system
Lower:
-more densely planted
-more basalt-derived clay and sand atop dark slate (more opulent wines)
-warmer
-harvest occurs about 10 days before the Upper Ahr

Question 16

How is the Ahr divided?

Answer 16

Upper Ahr
-west of Walporzheim
Lower Ahr
-spanning the remaining distance to the river’s confluence with the Rhine

Question 17

What is Frühburgunder? Any challenges?

Answer 17

-early ripening mutation of Pinot Noir
-known as Pinot Noir Precocé in France
-Ripens about 2 weeks earlier than Spätburgunder
-thicker skins, less acid, often more approachable

-at its harvest, it is the only ripe fruit, make target for birds and wasps
-prone to millerandage (uneven maturity in bunch)

Question 18

Where is Franken located?

Answer 18

-East of Frankfurt
-Centered along Main River as it flows from Bamberg to Frankfurt

Question 19

What river flows westward through Franken?

Answer 19

Main River

Question 20

What Anbaugebiet overlaps Bavaria?

Answer 20

Franken

Question 21

What is the most planted grape in Franken?

Answer 21

Müller Thurgau
26%

Question 22

What is the most important grape in Franken?

Answer 22

Silvaner
24%

-thrives and can ripen in cool climate when riesling cant
-smoky, full, mineral whites

Question 23

Tributary of the Mainz in Franken

Answer 23

Taube River
-converges west of Homburg

Question 24

What is Steinwein

Answer 24

-old nickname for Frankish wine
-“stone wine”

Question 25

What village is Franken's wine center?

Answer 25

Würzburg

Question 26

What is the name for the traditional squat flask shaped bottle used for Frankish wine?

Answer 26

Bocksbeutal

Question 27

What is the top name for Pinot Noir in Franken?

Answer 27

Rudolf Fürst in Burgstadt

Question 28

Top producers in Franken

Answer 28

Horst Sauer (Escherndorf) Hans Wirsching (Iphofen) Rudolf Fürst (Burgstadt) Juliusspital Würzburg (Würzburg) (Franken's largest producer) Castell'sches Domänenamt (Castell)

Question 29

When is the earliest episode of winemaking in Franken? Where?

Answer 29

8th Century

Question 30

Where are the western most reaches of Franken? What is the terroir here?

Answer 30

Mainviereck -“four-sided Main” where the river’s flow approximates a rectangular shape -Soils here are typically composed of weathered red sandstone -climate is gentler than in areas further east -only natural home for Pinot Noir in Franken

Question 31

What Bereiche in Franken produces the most wine?

Answer 31

Maindreieck -3/4 of Franken wine

Question 32

What are the boundaries of the Maindreieck? Soil?

Answer 32

-Würzburg on its western edge -shell-limestone soils

Question 33

Where is the Steigerwalk Bereiche? Terrain?

Answer 33

-eastern end of Franken -vineyards are often removed from the immediate environs of the Main River -less subject to humidity and botrytis -vineyards on the edge of the Steigerwald mountain forest -reaching almost 400 meters in elevation -highest and coolest district in Franken -gypsum-laced Keuper soils mitigate low temperatures by warming the vines at night -even with the area's north facing slopes

Question 34

Bereiche of Franken:

Answer 34

Mainviereck (West) Maindreieck (North east) Steigerwald (South east)

Question 35

How was the Taubertal divided according to 1971 German Wine Law?

Answer 35

-divided among three Anbaugebiete: Franken, Baden, and Württemberg -Baden has a Tauberfranken Bereich -Württemberg has a small slice of the Taubertal near the village of Bad Mergentheim -a portion of the region remains in the Maindreieck -Baden and Franken producers from the region have the right to bottle in a Bocksbeutel, Württemberg producers do not -climate here is quite marginal for quality grapes -sunlight hours are fewer here than in any of the three neighboring regions

Question 36

Important Villages of Franken from West to East

Answer 36

Klingenberg Bürgstadt Würzburg Escherndorf Iphofen

Question 37

What villages in Franken have a reputation for quality red wine?

Answer 37

Klingenberg Bürstadt

Question 38

Terroir of Würzburger Stein?

Answer 38

-warm, south-facing limestone and loess slope overlooking the Main

Question 39

Top Einzellagen in Würzburg (Franken)

Answer 39

Stein Leiste

Question 40

Top Einzellagen in Escherndorf (Franken)

Answer 40

Lump

Question 41

Top Einzellagen in Iphofen (Franken)

Answer 41

Julius Echter Berg

Question 42

Top Einzellagen in Bürgstadt (Franken)

Answer 42

Centgrafenberg

Question 43

Where is the Mittelrhein

Answer 43

Narrow anbaugebiet following Rhine river north past Assmannshaused and Lorch in Rheingau

Question 44

What anbaugebiet does cultivation in Mittelrhein resemble? Why?

Answer 44

Mosel -steep slate riverside slopes -planted predominately to riesling

Question 45

What sweetness level is most wine in Mittelrhein produced?

Answer 45

trocken or halbtrocken ~80%

Question 46

What Grosse Lage (a monopole of Toni Jost) is one of the best sites in the Mittelrhein?

Answer 46

Hahn Grosse Lage

Question 47

What village near Koblenz is home to producer Matthias Müller and source of good wines in Mitterrhein?

Answer 47

Spay

Question 48

Mittelrhein Bereiche:

Answer 48

Loreley Siebengebirge

Question 49

Top producers in Mittelrhein

Answer 49

Matthias Müller (Spay), Ratzenberger (Bacharach), Toni Jost-Hahnenhof (Bacharach), Frederich Bastian (Bacharach), Lanius Knab (Oberwesel)