Location and Climate
Iphofen lies in Franconia in the Bavarian district of Kitzingen, at about 255 metres above sea level at the foot of the Schwanberg, which is 474 metres high. The town belongs to the Main-gau climate zone, with an average annual temperature of about 7.5 to 8 °C and around 600 millimetres of annual rainfall. The wine-growing area is described as having a warm, dry climate, with comparatively high average temperatures and low rainfall.
Relief and Soils
The vineyards around Iphofen are located mainly on steep, south-facing slopes of the Schwanberg. The subsoil lies at the transition from shell limestone (Muschelkalk) of the Franconian Plate to Keuper formations and contains gypsum in the Lower Keuper. The slopes used for viticulture below the Schilfsandstein (reed sandstone) have gypsum-bearing claystones from which soft, nutrient-rich and water-retaining soils developed.
The Julius-Echter-Berg is south-facing and reaches slopes of up to 70 per cent. The Kronsberg has slopes of up to 60 per cent and dark, heavy gypsum Keuper, while the Kalb is oriented south-south-west and has lighter Keuper with a high proportion of limestone.
Winegrowing and Grape Varieties
The vineyards around Iphofen cover about 290 hectares. Documented sites include the Julius-Echter-Berg, the Kronsberg, the Kalb and the Domherr; in addition, Vogelsang is recorded in the municipal listings for Iphofen-Possenheim and Markt Einersheim. Julius-Echter-Berg, Kalb and Kronsberg belong to the Großlage Burgweg in the Schwanberger Land area, while the Domherr is not assigned to any Großlage.
Among the most important white grape varieties are Müller-Thurgau, Silvaner, Bacchus, Kerner and Riesling. For the red varieties, Spätburgunder, Domina, Schwarzriesling, Portugieser and Dornfelder are mentioned. Silvaner is considered a traditional Franconian grape variety.
History of Viticulture
A historical vineyard on the Julius-Echter-Berg documents Franconian wine-growing history on three terraces, with around 2,000 square metres, from the late Middle Ages via the period around 1800 to the 1960s. It shows, among other things, medieval mixed planting using single stake training, as well as mixed planting widespread around 1800 in the Franconian three-stake head (three-pole head) training system. Around 1960, Yellow Silvaner was raised there using a low wire trellis frame.
In 1904, phylloxera was detected in Iphofen. Today, six Iphofen wine-growing families cultivate the historical vineyard and produce the wine alternately in annual sequence.
