The western part of Franken, called Churfranken, has a long red wine tradition and is home to some of Germany’s best producers of spatburgunder, or pinot noir. The Furst winery is the shining star among them and the 2022 vintage is the best ever for Sebastian Furst. The Fürst Spätburgunder Franken Hundsrück GG 2022 is one of his most elegant pinots in a long time, with breathtaking aromas of wet earth, autumn leaves, mint and smoke overlain by layers of red fruit. It’s only medium-bodied but extremely concentrated with a very filigreed finish. The Fürst Spätburgunder Franken Schlossberg GG 2022 is almost as amazing, but more fragrant with a compelling harmony and almost endless finish of great delicacy.
The Furst family has a reputation for racy and very mineral dry riesling, and the Fürst Riesling Franken Centgrafenberg GG 2023 lives up it spectacularly. The complex aromas of yellow fruits, wild herbs and berries lead you into a diamond bright and sleek palate. Like the winery’s reds, this should age magnificently.
Fürst Spätburgunder Franken Tradition 2022
Score: 92 Points
14 May, 2024 – Bright and effusive nose of sour cherries with a wealth of floral nuances. Elegant and light on its feet, this is a delightful medium-bodied pinot noir with plenty of depth in the long finish. Drink or hold.
Fürst Spätburgunder Franken Bürgstädter 2022
Score: 93 Points
14 May, 2024 – Freshly poured this still has a touch of youthful flinty character, but with aeration the sour cherry and violet aromas steadily develop. Impressive depth and structure on the medium-bodied palate, the core of fine tannins wrapped in ample red fruit, the finish long and velvety. Drinkable now, but best from 2025.
Fürst Spätburgunder Franken Grossheubacher 2022
Score: 93 Points
14 May, 2024 – Bold and quite ripe, with ample forest berry aromas, this generous medium- to full-bodied pinot noir has a very solid base of tannins, but the overall impression is of restrained plushness. Long, structured finish. The first vintage of this wine, although the land in the Bischofsberg site this comes from has long been in this producer’s ownership. Most of this was planted 10 years ago with a French massal selection plus some old vines.
Fürst Spätburgunder Franken Klingenberger 2022
Score: 94 Points
14 May, 2024 – Here’s a stunning village wine with wonderful aromas and finesse that remind me of Chambolle-Musigny in Burgundy. Fine sour cherry and violet aromas are married to tightly woven yet filigreed tannins that interlock beautifully with the stony minerality in the long, very precise finish. Drink or hold.
Fürst Spätburgunder Franken Bürgstädter Berg EL 2022
Score: 95 Points
14 May, 2024 – This very elegant and beautifully balance German pinot noir is still very young and is only just beginning to reveal its wealth of red fruit, mint and mineral character. Stunning concentration on the tightly wound mid-palate, then a wonderful energy and precision in the very long finish. 100% from the Centrafenberg and Hundsrück GG sites and almost 100% whole-cluster fermentation. Drinkable now, but best from 2025.
Fürst Spätburgunder Franken Centgrafenberg GG 2022
Score: 96 Points
14 May, 2024 – Still very youthful, but the brightness is very striking for this hot and dry year. With aeration in the glass, the floral and sour cherry aromas expand and expand. Amazingly sleek and cool on the very concentrated, medium-bodied palate, this has terrific youthful energy and freshness right through the super-long precise finish. Drink from release.
Fürst Spätburgunder Franken Schlossberg GG 2022
Score: 98 Points
21 May, 2024 – This super-fragrant and super-elegant pinot noir shows what greatness and beauty the very best winemakers of Germany are now achieving with this grape. The combination of concentration, finesse and and freshness is already compelling, and the wine is only just beginning to spread its wide wings. Then, when you think you understand all of this, the fine tannins gently build to a crescendo at the almost endless finish. And yet, even there, the whole seems so delicate. Drink from release.
Fürst Spätburgunder Franken Hundsrück GG 2022
Score: 99 Points
14 May, 2024 – The breathtaking aromas of wet earth, autumn leaves, mint and smoke are underlain by layers of red fruit. The nose is already a wonder to behold. And the concentration on the medium-bodied palate is as astonishing as the finesse and precision. But the most amazing thing of all is the extremely long and filigreed finish that just doesn’t want to let go. Drink from release.
Fürst Chardonnay Franken Astheimer Trocken 2022
Score: 94 Points
14 May, 2024 – I love the orange zest, bergamot and mandarin orange aromas of this youthful, medium-bodied chardonnay. Wonderful balance of creaminess and chalky freshness. Super balance and a very long, animating finish with lots of minerality that pulls you back for more. Drink or hold.
Fürst Chardonnay Franken Bürgstadter Berg EL 2022
Score: 96 Points
14 May, 2024 – A masterpiece of elegance and finesse, this chardonnay has fabulously intertwined minerality and fine candied citrus character. The mineral intensity and fine tannins are deftly interlocked, building and building at the extremely long, precise finish. Drink or hold.
Fürst Chardonnay Franken R Trocken 2022
Score: 98 Points
14 May, 2024 – Here is conclusive proof that certain vineyard sites in Germany can play in the global big leagues for Chardonnay. Enormously concentrated and minerally, this is amazingly focused and pristine on the very compact medium-bodied palate. So much energy at the finish. This surely has decades of aging potential ahead of it. From the Karthäuser GG site, which has a very stony limestone soil. Drink or hold.
Fürst Weissburgunder Franken R Trocken 2022
Score: 94 Points
14 May, 2024 – This remarkable, barrel-fermented dry pinot blanc has a wonderful creaminess, but also a serious structure that exactly counterbalances the richness on the mid-palate. Long seashell finish with wonderful delicacy. Drink or hold.
Fürst Riesling Franken Pur Mineral Trocken 2023
Score: 93 Points
14 May, 2024 – What a joyfully nose of spring meadows, white peaches and crisp pears this sleek and youthful dry riesling has. I love the fresh herb delicacy and freshness in the long and filigreed finish. Drink now.
Fürst Riesling Franken Bürgstädter Berg EL 2023
Score: 96 Points
14 May, 2024 – The youthful nose of this dangerously bright, dry riesling has a stunning fresh herb complexity that pulls you into the very focused, sleek and stony palate. This might be a bit challenging for some, but I find it tremendously exciting. The intensely mineral finish just doesn’t want to stop. Enormous aging potential. Drink from release.
Fürst Riesling Franken Centgrafenberg GG 2023
Score: 98 Points
14 May, 2024 – Fabulous nose of yellow fruit, wild herbs and berries. Tremendous concentration and finesse on the extremely tightly wound but only medium-bodied palate. Like a sparkling diamond, the facets glitter with so many colors. Enormous aging potential. Drink from release.