Michelbach

Michelbach is a district and a wine-growing locality of Alzenau in the Aschaffenburg district in Bavaria. The place lies on the north-western edge of the Franconian wine-growing region near the border with Hesse. To the east, the foothills of the Spessart extend, while to the west the Main plain opens up. The particularly mild climate in the Alzenau area supports viticulture.

Michelbach includes the vineyard sites Apostelgarten and Michelbacher Steinberg. The Apostelgarten lies on south-facing slopes with a gradient of about 40 to 50 percent and at an altitude of 200 to 280 metres. Weathered crystalline rock with mica schist, gneiss and quartzite, as well as mineral-rich loess soils, shape the subsoil. Historic dry-stone walls, terraces, stairways and heaps of stones structure the vineyard landscape.

For the Apostelgarten, Riesling, Silvaner, Grauburgunder and Spätburgunder are classified. In the Alzenau wine-growing area, Müller-Thurgau, Bacchus, Kerner and Burgundy varieties are also cultivated. Dry Riesling and dry Silvaner from the Michelbacher Steinberg are documented, as is dry Riesling from the Apostelgarten. In the VDP classification, the Apostelgarten is classified as VDP.GROSSE LAGE® and the Michelbacher Steinberg as VDP.ERSTE LAGE®.

In the Middle Ages, the Seligenstadt monastery owned vineyards in Michelbach; in 1594 the areas under vine covered about 27 hectares. After a decline caused by crop failures, pests, less favourable climatic conditions and competition from cheaper imported wines, viticulture had virtually collapsed by around 1900. David Domer contributed to its revival in the second half of the 19th century. In 1902 a Michelbach winegrowers’ cooperative was founded. In the Apostelgarten, the Steinernes Häuschen vineyard keeper’s house built around 1865 for David Domer also commemorates the history of viticulture; the irregularly terraced site has been under monument protection since 1985.