A piece of land in a vineyard. Instead of vines, small trees grow here. A long stone staircase runs in between. It is lined with information boards about types of truffles. This is the first truffle viewing plantation in Germany. At least that’s what the hobby truffle farmer Daniel Rudolf calls his cultivation in the Röttingen vineyards (Würzburg district) on the border with Baden-Württemberg. However, there is not much to visit yet. Truffles are mushrooms that grow underground and it usually takes at least seven years before they can be dug up. “We don’t expect the first harvest until 2023 at the earliest,” says Rudolf. The trees on the plantation in Franconia are provided with truffle spores, known in technical jargon as “vaccinated”. The first trees were planted in 2018.
At the moment, the plantation is therefore more of a place of information – but also a place of enjoyment. With a view of the Main Valley, visitors can taste baguettes with truffle butter – still made from truffles they have bought in. A local winemaker offers wine tastings. “Wine and truffle go well together,” says Rudolf. He doesn’t just mean enjoyment. Both wine and truffle like calcareous soils. “The most important thing is the lime,” confirms Markus Mayer from the Association for Truffle Cultivation and Use, based in Schallstadt in Baden-Württemberg. Slope or south orientation are not necessary. Nevertheless, several winemakers also used their vineyards to grow truffles.
A Burgundy truffle lies on a wooden board between canapés with truffle butter. Truffles that have been bought are still being served to the visitors, at some point they will come from home-grown.
(Photo: Daniel Vogl / dpa)
According to Mayer, around 400 people and institutions in Germany grow truffles, most of them as a sideline. The group of winemakers is particularly large. The Bavarian State Institute for Viticulture and Horticulture (LWG) in Veitshöchheim (Würzburg district) is also experimenting with truffles. The so-called Franconian truffle is to be marketed as a “treasure trove”. Eight years ago, the employees planted the first areas with so-called truffle trees. In October they were able to harvest the first taste. “Truffles are particularly interesting for areas that are too unevenly cut or difficult to access for viticulture,” says Georg Bätz, head of the LWG Institute for Viticulture. How many truffle growers there are in Bavaria is unclear. “Truffles are not yet an official agricultural culture, they are all still trials.”
In some places the attempts are already quite advanced. According to the Trüffelverband, there are now three to four dozen areas under cultivation across Germany that are already being harvested. “40 to 50 kilograms per hectare and year are possible,” says managing director Mayer. The interest in truffles is nothing new. It is more of a rediscovery, according to the LWG. Local truffles used to be widespread and only disappeared from the kitchen and consciousness at the beginning of the 20th century – but not from the soil. “The forests in Lower Franconia and Upper Franconia are full,” says Bätz. The soil there is ideal for truffles. Bätz and his employees were allowed to look for truffles in the forest for their work. Truffles are normally protected in the wild and must not be excavated.
If you still want to look for truffles yourself, you can start growing experiments in your own garden. The LWG also tests truffles not only in vineyards, but also in garden areas. “The only important thing is lime, loose humic soil and patience,” says Mayer from the Truffle Association. Red beech, hazelnut, hornbeam, pedunculate oak and linden were particularly suitable as trees and bushes. Several tree nurseries now offer truffle trees. The harvest in particular is likely to be laborious. Because if you are lucky, digging could destroy the valuable mycelia, the mycelia. Truffle growers don’t need a truffle pig. But a truffle dog helps. “Almost all dog breeds can be trained to find truffles,” says Georg Bätz from the LWG. Hobby truffle farmer Daniel Rudolf and his partner from France would also like to get a dog soon. So that at some point they can serve truffles that come from their own plantation. Before that happens, Rudolf, who works full-time in tourism, would like to renew the image of the truffle. The target group for the tastings on his plantation are less gourmets than more company parties, stag parties and similar groups. “You don’t have to be a millionaire to eat truffles,” says Rudolf. Even at a kilo price of 1000 euros, the truffles only cost five to ten euros per dish. After all, you only use a few grams.