VDP.ESTATE
HANS WIRSCHING

VDP: What is so special about your winery?

Andrea Wirsching: We are a great Franken classic and the largest private winery in our region. The architecture at our headquarters in picturesque Iphofen has gradually evolved over the years and tastefully combines the old and the new. Our vineyards are located on a steep slope in the best parcels of Iphofen. A large share of the vines are over 30 years old. These old vines are our greatest potential; they yield wines with a particular density and elegance.

VDP: What is your winery philosophy?

Andrea Wirsching: We strive to produce elegant dry wines from healthy grapes. We work sustainably and naturally. Providing good service and dedicating a lot of time to our private customers are a matter of course for us.

VDP: For which wine style do you aspire?

Andrea Wirsching: Our wines express the terroir of Keuper soil. The sedimentary rock from the Triassic with its high organic content yields complex, mineral wines with a delicate spiciness. We therefore vinify our VDP.GUTSWEINE and VDP.ORTSWEINE in stainless steel to keep them elegant and slender. We allow the VDP.ERSTE LAGE^® and VDP.GROSSE LAGE^® wines more time to evolve. They come from old plots and are partially matured in large wooden barrels. Our specialities are dry Silvaner, Riesling and Pinot. Our dry Scheureben wines are world famous.

VDP:Which of your wines would you recommend to someone who does not yet know your winery – as an introduction, so to speak.

Andrea Wirsching: VDP.ERSTE LAGE^® Iphöfer Kalb Silvaner dry.

VDP: Of which wine are you particularly proud?

Andrea Wirsching: JULIUS-ECHTER-BERG Silvaner GG dry. We put all our best efforts into this wine! Many award-winning restaurants at home and abroad serve this wine. Its discreet bouquet and its concentration in flavour accompanies fish and vegetarian dishes perfectly.

VDP:Why did you become a vintner?

Andrea Wirsching: After my history studies I stood with my father in the Julius-Echter-Berg. As my eyes swept over the vineyards down to the place in which a Hans Wirsching already cultivated a vineyard in 1528, I knew then that I wouldn’t work as a historian. After that, I began training as a winegrower. Since then my work has revolved around wine and family. The variety of tasks, the freedom of being an independent entrepreneur and the joy of sharing the taste of good life with others are gifts from heaven for me!

VDP: Do you have role models?

Andrea Wirsching: My great role model is Michael Prinz zu Salm-Salm, in whose winery I completed a long internship. He took me with him to the many appointments he had as long-time VDP president and winery owner with many other mandates and professional responsibilities. His single-mindedness, wisdom, philanthropy and humility, carried by deep faith, have always impressed me and still inspire me today.

VDP: How do you combine tradition and innovation?

Andrea Wirsching: Silvaner and the Bocksbeutel are the Franken tradition to which we adhere. Innovations are mainly due to climate change and affect the vineyard. Our range of grape varieties will change, we will plant more Pinot varieties and adapt our work to the heat and drought. In the cellar we have been working for years with an innovative, photo-optical sorting machine to ensure that no Botrytis-affected grapes are vinified for our dry wines. Our style is classically elegant and therefore we do not experiment with orange wines, concrete or granite.