Franconia’s winegrowers start harvesting the Ortega and Solaris grapes for the Federweißer in the last days of August. This is young, still fermenting wine that is traditionally served with onion tart. The milky, cloudy Federweißer is not yet a wine in the classic sense, but lovers are happy about the fermented grape must every year at the end of summer. It is ready to drink about five to eight days after harvest. “Almost all winegrowers in Franconia have Federweißer on offer during the vintage season and sell it from the farm,” said the spokesman for the Franconian Winegrowers’ Association, Michael Bock, in Würzburg.
One of the largest Federweißer producers in Franconia, the Winzergemeinschaft Franken from Kitzingen, expects the harvest to start on September 1st and that its first Federweißer bottles will be in the supermarkets around the 36th calendar week – the following week. “Federweißer is a product with a limited shelf life, the fermentation of which is not complete. Therefore, Federweißer is only available during the vintage period,” explained association spokesman Bock. “Federweißer gets its name from the yeast, which is stirred up by the carbon dioxide during the fermentation process and dances like feathers in the glass.”
After pressing the grapes, the must goes straight into the bottle, where it ferments. Usually, Federweißer has about five percent alcohol. “The longer you store it, the more the flavor changes as it continues to ferment and the sugar turns into alcohol,” Bock said. Wine grows on around 6,300 hectares in Franconia. How much Federweißer is produced throughout Franconia every year is not officially recorded, but according to the association it only accounts for a fraction of the total volume read. According to the winegrowers’ association, the main harvest for storable wines will begin in the first weeks of September.
The official start of the harvest with Prime Minister Markus Söder and Minister of Agriculture Michaela Kaniber (both CSU) is scheduled for September 7th in Rödelsee (Kitzingen district). “The vines in Franconia can currently draw from the full,” said Bock. “Sufficient water, warm summer temperatures and many hours of sunshine ensure good development and maturity.” It will probably be an excellent vintage, but in terms of quantity it will probably be average.