Hochberg

Hochberg is a legally registered single vineyard site in the Churfranken area within the Franconian winegrowing region. The vineyard plots lie between Erlenbach am Main and Klingenberg am Main above the Main valley and extend across the cadastral areas of both towns. For the wine designation, Erlenbach am Main has been set as the principal community.

The Hochberg is a steep vineyard site, predominantly terraced, with south-westerly oriented slopes. For land managed there, gradients of up to 80 percent are described. The soils consist of red Buntsandstein; the dry-stone walls of the terraces were also built from red Buntsandstein.

In historical terraced areas of the Hochberg, maintenance measures are carried out, such as the removal of brambles and growth of woody plants. For designated areas of the landscape maintenance programme 2024/2025, the use of herbicides is excluded in continued viticulture. A winery operating in the Erlenbacher Hochberg documents year-round manual vine care, hand pruning and hand harvest. Plantings there include, among others, Spätburgunder, Portugieser, Silvaner, Riesling, Müller-Thurgau, Weißburgunder, Bacchus, Kerner, Chardonnay and Roter Traminer. Both red wines, including Spätburgunder and Portugieser, and white wines such as Silvaner, Riesling and Weißburgunder are documented.

Winegrowing in Erlenbach has been documented since 1261. Historical designations such as “Phuel” as well as later field names referring to the Hochberg and dated stones in the terrace walls point to the development of the site. In 1971, it was reported that the Erlenbach vineyards had been brought together under the designation Hochberg.