Region & History

Anyone who thinks of Mainfranken purely as wine country overlooks the trees growing between the rows of vines. From Würzburg downriver along the Main all the way to the Spessart, plums, apples, and pears grow on slopes and along field paths, and from them come Obstler and Zwetschgenwasser.

According to the product specification for the geographical indication, fruit growing expanded when phylloxera pushed back viticulture across many parts of Franconia in the late 19th century. Plum trees were planted on the newly vacant land, and the mild wine-growing climate gave the fruit a well-balanced ratio of sugar to acidity. They grow most densely in the Kitzingen district around Volkach on the Mainschleife and in the area around Würzburg.

The EU has protected two names as geographical indications since 1989: "Fränkisches Zwetschgenwasser" and "Fränkischer Obstler." Both apply to Franconia as a whole, meaning Lower, Middle, and Upper Franconia. The Obstler rules are stricter than the general EU baseline, which allows up to 15 percent other fruits: here it may be made only from apples and pears. The Zwetschgenwasser forgoes oak chips, which would otherwise speed up the spirit's maturation. The third Franconian "wasser," Kirschwasser, has its home in Franconian Switzerland.

Not everyone is allowed to distill. Since January 1, 2018, fruit distilleries have fallen under the Alcohol Tax Act; before that, they had to hand over their alcohol to the state monopoly. An Abfindungsbrennerei, or flat-rate distillery, may produce up to 300 liters of pure alcohol per year. Anyone who only owns fruit from their own tree can have it distilled there and, as a raw-material owner, receives at most 50 liters of pure alcohol.

At the edge of the region lies Freudenberg am Main, already in Baden-Württemberg, right on the border with Franconia. It was there, in 1865, that the story of the Ziegler distillery began, first as a brewery and inn. The house distills fruit, by its own account, from the gardens around Freudenberg, and has since added liqueurs, aperitifs, and whisky to its range. Because Freudenberg lies outside Bavaria, its fruit brandy may not be called Fränkischer Obstler.

Elsewhere, small family-run operations shape the picture, often as a sideline alongside a farm. Many are found in Lower Franconia's Rhön region, where a distillery trail in Wartmannsroth leads visitors past one fruit distillery after another.