Ernst Gebhardt - Franconia

Since 1723 a family member has been in control of their own 15ha under vine in Steinbach, Öelspiel, Randersacker and Markbreit with the winery situated in Sommerhausen near Würzburg. Traditional wine-making begins in the vineyard with careful grape selection, gentle pressing and natural clarification of the wines before fermentation begins with variety specific yeasts to retain the natural nuances of the grapes. The Shelly Limestone creates low acidity wines and enhances the specific soil characteristics... this makes Gebhardt wines the perfect match for food. The deep cellars have a capacity of over 2.7 million litres with facilities to mature 2.5 million bottles. This large area is required as wine is made from a further 100ha of vines from contract vintners under the instruction of oenologist Peter Hügelschäffer.