Wine from the Main in the Häckerwirtschaft

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Wine from the Main valley

It's time to celebrate! As soon as we enter the Häckerwirtschaft of the winery Waigand from Erlenbach, the young winemaker Verena Waigand reaches out to greet us in greeting, while one of her little sons looks at us curiously from her shoulder. He learns - together with his twin brother - from an early age, what it means to live and work on a winery on the Main. The second of the twins is a bit shy and hides behind mother's trouser leg. Only after a cautious appraisal he considers us harmless and approaches us as curiously as his brother. Verena Waigand is one of the best young winegrowers in Germany, according to Handelsblatt. Gault Millau has also become aware of Waigand's wines and recommends them in his Wine Guide by 2012. We are looking forward to what awaits us!

 

Verena Waigand, one of the best young winemakers in Germany
Verena Waigand, one of the best young winemakers in Germany

 

Wine from the Main in the winery Waigand

From the outside, the Waigand family home does not show that it is a winery. It looks like a normal residential building in the city of Erlenbach am Main. Only when we enter the inner courtyard does the gate with its vines and vine leaves made of metal indicate that "something with wine" is happening behind the walls of the house. Right next to the entrance is an old wine press that prepares us for it. The Waigand family's winery is apparently not unknown, because when we enter their hacking business, it is almost completely occupied. Loud murmurs from wine lovers greet us, who enjoy the Waigands wines in the small restaurant. As we talk to Verena Waigand, new guests keep coming in.

 

 

The next generation of winemakers in the winery Waigand
The next generation of winemakers in the winery Waigand
Red wine barrel in the wine cellar of the winery Waigand Wein vom Main
Red wine barrel in the wine cellar of the Waigand winery

 

Smart winemaker

The young winemaker impresses me. She knows exactly how she likes her wines and is not afraid to go her own way. These differ from those of her father. But Verena Waigand says: “Everyone has their own taste when it comes to wine. My father does not have to like what tastes good to me. ”Apparently, her taste exactly matches the trend of the time, because among the wines she serves us for tasting are numerous award-winning wines.

 

2012 Erlenbacher Hochberg White Burgundy
Wine from the Main - 2012 Erlenbacher Hochberg White Burgundy

 

White and Pinot Noir

Typical of the region Churfranken, to which the wine from the Main Erlenbach counts, are the white and Pinot Noir. In the area of ​​Churfranken they find the perfect terroir for their cultivation: the red red sandstone soil on the southern slopes of the Main warms up in the daytime during the summer months and returns the heat to the vines during the cooler hours of the night. This creates perfect growing conditions for the Burgundy varieties. In addition, the typical Franconian grape varieties Silvaner, Müller-Thurgau or Portugieser grow on the terraced steep slopes of the winery Waigand. At the Waigand Winery, it is important to give the wines sufficient time to mature. Depending on the grape variety, they are stored in the steel cellar of the winery, in large oak barrels or barriques.

 

Old cork machine
Old cork machine

 

Wine from the Main in the Häckerwirtschaft

We are lucky that the Waigand family has just opened their hake farming during our stay. Häckerwirtschaften are wineries that open their houses on time for wine lovers to serve their wines. They introduce their guests to their own wines. In good weather, the Waigand family can sit outside in the courtyard at one of the tables set up or, as we do, try the wines in the guest room in the family home. A hake farming has only two to three weeks open in the year and does not require a dispensing permit. She is tax-free.

 

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Churfranken dish, a typical hacker plate
Churfranken dish, a typical hacker plate
Ofenfrischer Winzerblatz - a kind of tarte flambée
Ofenfrischer Winzerblatz - a kind of tarte flambée
Mettbrot with onions
Mettbrot with onions

 

Häckerplatte, Winzerplatz and Mettbrot

For the wine tasting, we are served simple cold and warm dishes that provide a basis for the wine. We choose a few from the menu at the Häckerwirtschaft Waigand Franconian specialties which we simply place in the middle of the table and try in turn: the Churfranken plate (a typical Häcker platter), an oven-fresh Winzerblatz (a kind of tarte flambée) and a Mettbrot with onions. We will also taste the various wines from the Waigand house: an Erlenbacher Hochberg 2012 Pinot Blanc, an Erlenbacher Hochberg 2012 Silvaner Spätlese and a barrique-matured Erlenbacher Hochberg 2011 Spätburgunder Spätlese.

 

Thrives excellently on the red sandstone soils of Churfri
Wine of the Main - Thrives excellently on the red sandstone soils of Churfhren
2012 Erlenbacher Hochberg Silvaner Spätlese
Wine from the Main - 2012 Erlenbacher Hochberg Silvaner Spätlese

 

Verena Waigand joins us and explains her wines. She tells us about her life as a winemaker and about the fact that she can not imagine living anywhere else. We finally taste their wine from the Main and are convinced of the quality of Waigand wines after tasting the various types of wine. Here are excellent wines produced.

If you want to taste the wines from the Waigand winery, you can do that here:

Winery Waigand
Dr.-Vits-Str. 8
Erlenbach

You can also see which huckster farms have opened during your stay in the region when they are passing through brooms, twigs or wreaths.

 

 


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Discover more travel tips for trips to savor on our blog TravelWorldOnline.

Tips on wine and drinks can be found at Wine tourism - wine regions.

Source: own research on site. We also thank you for the invitation to this trip at Mainland Miltenberg - Churfranken eV. Our opinion, however, remains our own.

Text: © Copyright Monika Fuchs, TravelWorldOnline
Photos: © Copyright Monika Fuchs, TravelWorldOnline

Wine from the Main in the Häckerwirtschaft

Monika Fuchs

Monika Fuchs and Petar Fuchs are the authors and publishers of the Food and Slow Travel blog  TravelWorldOnline. They have been publishing this blog since 2005. TravelWorldOnline has been online since 2001. Their topics are trips to Savor, wine tourism worldwide and slow travel. During her studies Monika Fuchs spent some time in North America, where she - partly together with Petar Fuchs - traveled to the USA and Canada and spent a research year in British Columbia. This intensified her thirst for knowledge, which she satisfied for 6 years as an adventure guide for Rotel Tours and then for 11 years as a tour guide for Studiosus Reisen around the world. She was constantly expanding her travel regions, but curiosity still gnawed at her: "What's beyond the horizon? What else is there to discover in this city? Which people are interesting here? What do they eat in this region?" As a freelance travel journalist (her articles have appeared in DIE ZEIT, 360° Canada, 360° USA, etc.), she is now looking for answers to these questions as a travel writer and travel blogger in many countries around the world. Petar Fuchs produces the videos on this blog as well as on YouTube. Monika Fuchs from TravelWorldOnline is among Germany's top 50 bloggers in 2021. Find more Information about Monika and Petar Fuchs here.