Hans Wirsching 2017 Iphofer Kalb Silvaner in Bocksbeutel, Franken, Germany

The Hans Wirsching family winery dates back to 1630 and is one of the most, if not the most, respected Silvaner producer in Germany. This is Wirsching’s single vineyard Silvaner produced from old vines in the grand cru Kalb vineyard.   The subtle fruitiness on the nose of this wine misleads you into expecting a light, fruity wine.  That is not the case here.  This Silvaner is medium bodied and elegant with steely minerality and weighty texture.  This wine shows the serious side of Silvaner and why Franken Silvaner is unlike no other. Pair with swordfish, halibut, scallops, pork, chicken dishes.

Wirsching is one of the largest privately owned estates in Germany with history dating back to the year 1630, when Hans Wirsching donated a vineyard to the Abbey at Ebrach. This was the first record documenting the Wirsching family’s involvement in wine. The Wirsching legacy and involvement with agriculture and winemaking has continued to the present.

Post phylloxera, Hans Wirsching resbuilt his vineyards using American rootstocks. He got Scheurebe cuttings from the Annaberg in the early 1950s (like Karl Fuhrmann at Pfeffingen / Pfalz) and transplanted them in the Kronsberg vineyard. The Wirsching and Pfeffingen estates deserve credit for pioneering efforts in making a place for the Scheurebe grape in German viticulture. Currently, The estate has holdings of nearly 80 hectares of which 40% in planted to Silvaner, the rest other grapes. Vineyard soils are gypsum marls with sandstone, clays and loams. Wirsching is a member of the VDP.