not everthing german needs to be riesling
HANS WIRSCHING WOULD LIKE A WORD ABOUT SILVANER.
MADE FOR THE TABLE
Silvaner has one final advantage: it is extremely good with food.
Its restrained fruit, herbal freshness and savoury texture make it a natural partner for fish, shellfish and vegetables, but it has enough substance for richer sauces and more generous dishes. It is also exceptionally good with asparagus, an ingredient with a long and successful career in making wine look foolish.
Bacchus provides a more aromatic option for fresh herbs and gently spiced dishes, while Spätburgunder brings bright red fruit and delicacy to poultry, pork, mushrooms and charcuterie.
Together, these are wines with a clear sense of place and a very practical place on the list. For us, that is what makes Hans Wirsching such an exciting partnership: fourteen generations of knowledge, an overlooked grape and wines that make a far stronger argument than any history book.
We love wines that challenge expectations, particularly when they do it without making a great fuss about it.
The Wirsching family has been making wine in Iphofen since 1528. Fourteen generations later, Silvaner remains at the heart of the estate—and one taste makes it easy to understand why. These are dry, textured and wonderfully savoury wines, with herbal freshness and a mineral edge drawn from the region’s gypsum-rich soils.
They are distinctive without being difficult, serious without becoming solemn and extremely good at the table. That combination made this an easy partnership for us: Hans Wirsching offers something genuinely different, backed by nearly five centuries of knowing exactly what to do with it.
WHY WE CHOSE hans wirsching
Because if we are going to make some noise about Silvaner, we want to do it with a producer that shows exactly why the grape matters.
Fourteen generations have given Hans Wirsching an exceptional understanding of Silvaner and the vineyards of Iphofen. The wines are precise and full of character, but never overworked. They capture the grape’s texture, savoury freshness and remarkable ability to express small differences in soil and site.
We also love how useful they are. These are wines that can intrigue an experienced buyer, earn their place on a serious restaurant list and still win over someone ordering Silvaner for the first time. Our exclusive partnership gives us the chance to champion an outstanding producer—and an overlooked variety—that brings something genuinely new to our portfolio.
SO, WHAT MAKES SILVANER SPECIAL?
Silvaner is less interested in showing off than Riesling. That is a large part of its charm.
Rather than leading with perfume or exuberant fruit, it draws you in with texture, subtle spice and a savoury, mineral character. In Iphofen, the gypsum-rich Keuper soils bring out gentle orchard fruit, fresh herbs and a pleasing earthy quality, all held together by freshness rather than aggressive acidity.
It is also a grape that lets the vineyard do the talking. Different sites produce noticeably different expressions, yet the wines retain an easy, unforced quality. There is plenty to discover, but no homework required before opening the bottle.
THE RIGHT GRAPE IN THE RIGHT PLACE
Hans Wirsching calls Iphofen the Home of Silvaner. Having tasted the wines, we are not inclined to argue.
Silvaner has a particular ability to translate soil, slope and exposure into the glass. In Iphofen’s ancient Keuper soils, it finds the structure and mineral character that make the wines so distinctive, while cooler vineyard influences preserve freshness and lift.
Iphöfer Kalb produces fragrant, energetic wines with immediate appeal, while Iphöfer Kronsberg tends towards delicacy, balance and elegance. Wirsching’s approach is not to exaggerate those differences in the cellar, but to let each vineyard make its own case.
FOURTEEN GENERATIONS. STILL CURIOUS
The Wirsching family’s story in Iphofen began in 1528. That is an impressive history, but what matters to us is how clearly those centuries of experience come through in the wines.
Nearly 500 years of working these vineyards have given the family an instinctive understanding of Silvaner and a quiet confidence in what it can do. There is no need to dress the wines up or chase international styles. The work is precise, the intervention measured and the results unmistakably Franconian.
The estate also produces aromatic Bacchus and elegant Spätburgunder, giving the range breadth without losing its regional identity. Silvaner, however, remains the reason we first paid attention—and the reason we wanted to work together.
Fourteen generations later, it still has something new to say.
