Weingut Rudolf Furst
Franken, Germany
“Rudolf Fürst is an acknowledged Pinot magician in Germany, not just with Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir) but also the earlier-ripening Frühburgunder.” Jancis Robinson MW, The Financial Times,13th November 2011
Falstaff (best Austrian wine magazine) Winemaker of the Year 2018
Documented founding of the winery dates to 1638. The modern history of the winery started with Paul and Monika Fürst which built a new winery in 1979. Sebastian Furst got the full membership in the family winemaking team in 2007.
There are around 20 hectares of premium vineyards on the west side of Franken. They include unique sites like: Centgrafenberg, Hundsrück, Schlossberg, Karthäuser. It is mainly iron-rich red sandstone unusual for Franken. Framed by two low mountain ranges of Spessart and Odenwald the area historically was known for producing better red wines. An average of 120,000 bottles of wine are produced annually.
Paul Fürst and his son Sebastian are paying a paramount attention to the care of the vineyards. Every plot is tended separately different training methods, different harvest times, green harvest whenever necessary, different vine clones were used for different sites. Long cold maceration, whole bunches are used as a source of tannins in different proportions. Red wines are not filtered.
Sebastian Schür is the agronomist overseeing vineyard operations.
The winery is a member of the VDP (Association of German Prädikat Wine Estates) and one of the five Franconian TRIAS wineries (quality alliance of 5 wineries).
As an insight into the style of Rudolf Furst wines there are symbolical words of Paul Furst:
‘I hate too much opulence in the wine’. ‘I like a crystalline elegant style. I like elegance and a long finish in the mouth.’
‘My interest in Pinot Noir is to have silkiness, not strong tannins, and nice acidity, not sourness’.
Story
The Fürst family has grown wine in Bürgstadt am Main since 1638; Sebastian and Isabell Fürst run the estate today.
- From farm to icon
- Paul and Monika Fürst took over in 1979 and grew a small mixed farm from 1.5 ha to 21 ha.
- Winemakers of the Year
- Paul in 2003 and Sebastian in 2018 were named German Winemaker of the Year.
- Pinot first
- More than 60% of the vineyards are Spätburgunder; exported to about 30 countries.
