by Ian D’Agata
The Bürgerspital complex in pretty Würzburg is so much more than just a winery: it also functions partly as a residential and nursing home for senior citizens and partly as a restaurant-weinstuben. But fact is, its wines are really pretty darn good too. With over 700 years of history, it is one of the oldest and largest wineries of all Germany, and produces a plethora of great wines from many different grape varieties (Silvaner, Riesling, Müller-Thürgau, Gewürztraminer, Bacchus, Scheurebe, Weissburgunder…) and at many different levels of sweetness (right up to the legendarily good TBAs). Clearly, it doesn’t hurt that it is blessed with some of the best vineyard land in the whole country, including a large swath of the almost mythically famous Würzburgerer Stein site (Goethe’s favourite wine), including the smaller sections known as Würzburger Stein-Berg and the Würzburger Stein-Harfe (the Stein is subdivided into four major sub-areas: the first part of the Stein is called Lindlein; the other three that follow are the Schalksberg, the Stein-Harfe and lastly, the Stein and/or Steinberg). The Steine-Harfe is eight hectares large and is a Bürgerspital monopole and of grand cru level (Grosse Lage); the winery’s best section of the Pfaffenberg, from where they make the Silvaner wine in this tasting report, is a premier cru, or Erste Lage.
