Location and Climate
Freyburg is situated on the Unstrut in Saxony-Anhalt and is a central wine-growing town in the quality wine-growing area Saale-Unstrut. The vineyards extend along the Unstrut valley and on the adjacent slopes and belong to the Schloss Neuenburg area. The continental climate brings warm, dry summers, cold winters, clear differences between day and night, and a long growing season. For the region, around 500 millimetres of rainfall and roughly 1,600 hours of sunshine are given annually.
Landscape and Soils
The vineyards are located for the most part on sheltered, south-facing slopes of the river valley. Terraces and steep sites shape the landscape. The region’s vineyard areas are mostly on elevations between 100 and 350 metres; 77 per cent have a slope of 10 to 30 per cent, while a further 18 per cent are above 30 per cent. Weathered shell limestone soils predominate, locally supplemented by loess and clay over shell limestone.
Vineyard Sites and Wine-Growing History
Registered single vineyard sites include Freyburger Edelacker, Freyburger Herrenberg, Freyburger Himmelreich and Freyburger Mühlberg. Edelacker covers 30.3422 hectares, Herrenberg 13.6615 hectares, Himmelreich 37.5912 hectares and Mühlberg 107.7493 hectares. Viticulture in Freyburg has been documented since 1248; the region’s wine-growing tradition goes back approximately 1,000 years. The ducal vineyard was laid out in 1774 as a terrace system. Its steep plots are farmed by hand in the Edelacker, while a demonstration terrace of the ducal vineyard shows, in addition to 17, rare grape varieties that are also grown.
Grape Varieties and Wine Style
At the ducal vineyard, Weißburgunder and Silvaner are grown above all, as well as, in smaller quantities, Blauer Spätburgunder. In the vicinity of Freyburg, Müller-Thurgau, Riesling, Dornfelder and Bacchus are also cultivated. The cool, continental conditions produce delicate, fresh wines with clearly defined aromas. On shell limestone sites, dry wines with comparatively distinctive acidity are documented; from the Freyburger Himmelreich, a sweetly styled Solaris with residual sweetness and exotic fruit aromas is also described.
