document from 10 April 1659. The most important cities and towns are Würzburg, Randersacker, Thüngersheim,Sommerhausen, Frickenhausen am Main, Sulzfeld am Main, Sommerach, Escherndorf, Nordheim, and Volkach. Steigerwald District The soil of the Mittelgebirge Steigerwald consists mainly of gypsum. The wines of this region often have a very strong mineral taste. The most important villages are Iphofen, Rödelsee and Castell History There is evidence that wine has been produced in Franconia for over 1,000 years. In an old document from the year 777 there is a note of a winery being given by Charlemagne to Fulda Abbey. This is the town of Hammelburg. In medieval times the area under cultivation grew strongly, up to 40,000 ha. In the 20th century it decreased at one stage to just over 2,000 ha. Today about 6,100 ha of land is used for growing wine. The area stretches from Bamberg to Aschaffenburg. The climate is called continental with Mediterranean influence. Quite often there are strong winters and temperatures under 0 degrees Celsius in the spring. Therefore, wine is grown mainly in especially protected places usually along the hills of the River Main and the Steigerwald. Description of Franconian wine Because of the special soil and the mild climate along the Main river, wines with a very high mineralisation can be harvested. The amount of minerals in the wine is a factor in the quality testing every Franconian wine is subjected to. This is unique in Germany. The majority of the wines are made from one grape variety at a time. Cuvées are rare. It is said that the wines of the typical Silvaner are the best wines from this grape in the world. Most Franconian wines are dry. Although in German law dry wines are allowed 9 grams of residual sugar, many German wineries are still using the term Fränkisch trocken (Franconian dry) for wines with 5 grams of residual sugar or less. About 12,000 to 14,000 wines from Franconia pass the official testing. As in most German wine regions, the exact vineyard site (Lage) where the wine comes from is nearly as important as the winery. Apart from the Steinwein, very few people outside Franconia – and nearly no one outside Germany – is familiar with the site names, mainly because the German Lagen are tiny compared to some of the well-known appellations of France, Italy, and Spain. Today many wineries have tried to