Location and landscape
Winterhausen lies in the southern Main Triangle in the Lower Franconian district of Würzburg. The municipality belongs to Franken, lies at an elevation of about 188 metres and covers 8.72 square kilometres.
The Kaiser Wilhelm vineyard site
The main part of the Kaiser Wilhelm vineyard site is located to the south-west of Winterhausen above the River Main valley between Ludwigshöhe and Scheinsberg. The vineyard plots are predominantly oriented to the south to south-east. The soils are described as calcareous with loamy to clayey cover; in the surrounding area, outcrops of Muschelkalk and quarries occur.
Grape varieties and history
Kaiser Wilhelm is the registered single-vineyard designation for Winterhausen and is currently included in the larger site designation Sommerhäuser Ölspiel. In connection with the site and the Winterhausen estates, Müller-Thurgau, Bacchus, Silvaner, Kerner, Domina, Acolon and Schwarzriesling are documented. A wine from the site is a Kerner Qualitätswein b.A. with the taste specification “semi-dry”; in addition, Rotling is produced.
As part of land consolidation, a 12-hectare vineyard area was newly laid out, with its last vines planted in early June 1983. The site was bordered on both sides by forest and protected to the north by a windbreak planting. The name Kaiser Wilhelm is associated with the adjacent landscape designation Wilhelmshöhe, which was officially named in 1897 to commemorate the 100th birthday of Kaiser Wilhelm I.
