Franken Freunde Tasting Event 2026

A wine tasting with the crème de la crème of Franconian winemakers and their friends in a castle, within 30 minutes’ travel of our home? We just had to take part in Franken Freunde at the Schlosshotel Hohenstein. In total, there were 56 vineyards and distilleries offering wine and spirits.

Something classic as a start

We started with the wines from Buerklin-Wolf. The rosé sparkling wine was a pleasant surprise, as was its great taste. Furthermore, even the vineyard Riesling showed great potential. My wife enjoyed the village bottling the most, while I was impressed by the complexity of the Geisboehl Grand Cru. All the wines had a vibrant yet balanced acidity.

Excellent, crowd pleasing silvaner

On the other side of the table was Philipp Luckert, presenting their selection of silvaners. In contrast to the riesling, the silvaner demonstrated its ability to deliver a strong sense of terroir, with an even more balanced acidity. Both the village bottling and the ‘Alte Reben’ were real crowd pleasers. The ‘Gelbkalk’, however, was the most expressive wine. Last but not least, the renowned ‘Maustal’ demonstrated the complexity and refinement of a superb silvaner.

Our favourite Franconian winemaker

A few things I needed to learn about my friend Stephan’s wines were: They need time in the bottle, a lot of air contact and you need to take your time when sipping them. So, a relatively fresh wine in the bottle, at a tasting event with a freshly opened bottle only can show a glimpse of the full potential. This was the case with Stephan’s newest vintage of Riesling. Yet, the wine clearly reminded me of the 2019 Riesling we had when we visited him in October 2025.

Silvaner from Rhinehesse

I had already tried one or two Saalwaechter wines, but it was quite interesting to make a direct comparison between the silvaner ‘Alte Reben’, pinot blanc, pinot gris and ‘Grauer Stein’. All the wines had noticeable notes of grape skin, which gave them an additional flavour dimension. The pinot blanc in particular had some reductive notes, but these mellowed with a bit of air.

Approachable ‘natural’ wines

I already tried the silvaner from Thomas Patek. Now, we started with his Pet Nat Cidré made from meadow orchard apples and quinces. We are great Cidré fans so this one was right up our alley. The same was true for Thomas’ pet nat, ‘Weiss’ Cuvée as well as the ‘Hellrot’. All wines had their individual character without being to far out there. Especially the ‘Weiss with its fruitiness stood out.

More than thirty years of organic farming

My wife and I had already visited the Zang vineyard in Nordheim, so we also paid Maximilian Zang a visit. His one-time edition of a scheurebe was anything but classical. With a flinty, reduced nose and a fairly mineral taste, the usual fruitiness only lingers in the background. The top-tier ‘Langgraben’ silvaner was complex yet smooth, with a creamy mouthfeel that showcased the vineyard’s signature style. Finally, we tried the renowned gewuerztraminer ‘Orange’, which blew us away with its balanced complexity and spicy notes.

Excellent, new Franconian sparkling

After a short break, we sampled the relatively new sparkling wines from Brueder von Agris. Their stringent, almost minimalist style was evident in all their wines. The Pet Nat was the most approachable, but we especially liked the bone-dry fruit and mineral flavour of the pinot noir and pinot meunier sparkling wines. However, the Blanc de Noir, which had partially aged under a yeast cover, impressed us even more than the other two.

Almost as good as Fraconian silvaner

I was also curious to try the wines from Dominik Held, because I had read a lot about them online. Starting with the white wine cuvée ‘Bussi’ which was the most fruit-forward, we tasted his complex riesling. The chardonnay blew me away with its ethereal and mineral flavours, which I had not encountered in German chardonnays before. Apart from that, Dominik’s Silvaner is rightly considered one of Germany’s insider tips for Silvaner. Finally, we also tried his blaufraenkisch, which he planted as a reminder of his time in Austria. It had notes of red fruits and spices.

Wine from Franconia and Rhinehesse

Next, we visited Philipp Giegerich. He was kind enough to send us his 2019 Schlossberg vintage from the archives for our pinot noir tasting in November 2025. We started with his silvaners and I especially enjoyed the ‘Schalk’ bottling. It was also very educational to compare the first two with their silvaner from Rheinhessen. I also loved the Chardonnay – R – and the Pitztaler Berg Pinot Noir.

Unique and complex

Next, we tried the wines from Odinstal, each of which had a unique flavour profile. I was particularly intrigued by the Silvaner ‘Nakt’ with its natural apple skin flavour. My wife very much enjoyed the Riesling ‘Tertiaer’ from the new vineyard in Herxheim am Berg. The pinot blanc wines were delicate and tasty, too. Especially the bottling from Odinstal’s monopol vineyard.

Always a pleasure

Right beside Odinstal was Richard Oestreicher vineyard. I have tried almost all of their wines several times already, but I am delighted to do so over and over again. They are undoubtedly among the best Franconian wine producers and even among the best German vineyards. The vertical comparison between the 2018 and 2019 vintages of the Bordeaux cuvée R was especially enlightening this time. There was certainly a difference between the warmer and cooler vintages. However, I cannot really say which I preferred.

Excellent Swiss wine

Our final stop of the day was at Patrick Adank’s stand. I had previously featured his ‘Brut’ sparkling wine in my European sparkling wine tasting in Dezember 2025. It showed its unique character again. Nevertheless, the chardonnay was truly astonishing! Furthermore, all three Pinot Noirs were very tasty and had complex dark fruit flavours. I especially enjoyed the ‘Spondis’ Pinot Noir from Adank’s warmest vineyard.

Some spirits

As a digestif, we said hello to Theo from Freimeister Kollektiv. I love the spirits he creates with various producers. This time, we tried the new poppy seed eau de vie, which tasted just a bite of poppy seed cake. The Liebl and Hiebl collaboration, the Williams pear eau de vie, was one of the best I have tried so far.

In the end

Overall, Franken Freunde was a great event in a beautiful location. It was busy, but the atmosphere was relaxed, and the vegan food was really tasty. We are definitely looking forward to next year’s event!