German wine is synonymous with the Riesling. It’s sweet, fruity, seemingly designed for sipping on a sunny day—or, really, all day. But while Riesling may be the star of Germany’s Mosel and Rhinegau regions, it’s hardly recognized in Franconia. Instead, the vino of choice is Silvaner (the local favorite), Bacchus (known as the “wine for women”), or the Riesling-Madeleine Royal hybrid, Müller-Thurgau—wines so supremely local that Franconia’s signature vessel, the Bocksbeutel, is virtually unseen outside the region, let alone throughout the world. White wines dominate the landscape, at roughly 80 percent of the grapes planted. But the handful of reds grown are uniquely Franconian. A typical Rotling is the Franconian rendition of rosé in which vintners grow red grapes but treat them as if they were white, yielding a deeply fragrant white wine that just so happens to be blushing. Domina, the most common red, is inelegant and unrefined compared to virtually anything out of France, but what the wine lacks in grandeur it makes up for in flavor, with a dark, full body and rich in tannins.

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