Gemeinde Rödelsee

In the past, winegrowing without God’s help was unthinkable. Winegrowers tried to secure this help with religious rituals: The communities living around Schwanberg held supplicatory processions in the vineyards every year on the weekend before Ascension Day.

The land blessed during these processions is divided in various vineyard sites, often with centuries-old names. Rödelsee’s best-known sites are Schwanleite and Küchenmeister. Schwanleite, named after the Celtic goddess Svana, was mentioned in a document as early as 1295, and Küchenmeister, named after an aristocratic family who owned land in Rödelsee, a little later, in 1360. Names well-known to wine lovers today.

When the Franconian vineyard sites were precisely defined to comply with the German Wine Act of 1971, Küchenmeister and Schwanleite survived as well-known site names, while others ceased to exist. Neighbouring sites include Kiliansberg (Grosslangheim) and Wachhügel (Wiesenbronn) in the north, Julius-Echter-Berg and Kronsberg (Iphofen) in the south. Wines from vineyards around Rödelsee that are not part of an individual site for some reason are labelled “Schlossberg”; this is a general site name.