Location and landscape
Retzstadt is a municipality in the eastern district of Main-Spessart in Lower Franconia, Bavaria. The place lies in a side valley of the Main and is surrounded by vineyard slopes. Steeply rising slopes enclose the settlement and the vineyards; the Retz valley connects the municipality with the Main valley. Retzstadt belongs to the wine region Franconia.
Vine cultivation
The wine-growing area of Retzstadt covers more than 70 hectares and is marketed primarily under the name Retzstadter Langenberg. The vineyards are located on Muschelkalk, a formation of the Triassic. Silvaner, Müller-Thurgau, Bacchus, Kerner and Spätburgunder are among the most important grape varieties in the municipality.
Vineyard sites and wine character
The Retzstadter Langenberg is described as a Muschelkalk site that stores heat. The wines produced there are associated with a robust and fruity character. The Himmelspfad parcel within the Langenberg site is south-facing, lies at an altitude of about 250 metres and has a slope gradient of 45 to 65 percent. Silvaner, planted in 1963, is found there above all.
History of winegrowing
Winegrowing in Retzstadt has been documented since 814; another record from the year 1183 mentions a vineyard in the town. The municipality maintains an installation planted in 1925 on the Unteren Langenberg as the world’s oldest still existing Müller-Thurgau vineyard. With the land consolidation at the Langenberg in 1962, several former vineyard names were brought together until 1970 to form the Retzstadter Langenberg site.
