Wine-tasting at the Aristocratic House of Löwenstein

Fürst Löwenstein Wine-tasting at Schloss Kleinheubach :

PARIS & THE HEART OF EUROPE – UNIWORLD RIVER CRUISE – DAY 11:

Our brief walking tour of Miltenberg this morning was not too enjoyable. After a brilliant day of sunshine in Würzburg yesterday, our luck ran out in Miltenberg and it rained when we were doing our sightseeing tour. Miltenberg is a beautiful medieval town, famous for its half-timbered buildings, but they were a bit difficult to enjoy from under the cover of umbrellas.  With the cold and wet, I think many of the cruise passengers weren’t too unhappy when our rushed walking tour of the old town came to an end as our next activity, wine-tasting at Schloss Kleinheubach, would at least be under cover – we couldn’t be more sheltered than in the cellar of the aristocratic Löwenstein family.

Schloss Kleinheubach

Schloss Kleinheubach is in the market community of Kleinheubach, northwest of Miltenberg old town. The Baroque palace is the wine estate of the Löwenstein family who are descendants of the House of Löwenstein.  Alois-Konstantin, Prince of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg is the ninth Prince of Löwenstein. He and his wife Anastasia, Princess of Prussia, occupy one wing of the castle, whilst the main section is used as a hotel and conference venue.  On arrival at Schloss Kleinheubach, we were greeted by their daughter-in-law, the Princess Stephanie. Her husband Carl Friedrich was the next in line as Hereditary Prince of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg, but unfortunately he died in a racing accident in 2010. He was an endurance race driver.

On the lawn of Schloss Kleinheubach, Princess Stephanie welcomed us and gave us a little background about the Löwenstein family and Kleinheubach palace. Thankfully, we were then brought to the family chapel and, out of the rain, the Princess told us about the Löwenstein family’s long history in wine-making. You won’t see any photos of the Princess as she has requested that no photos be taken of her. She is the public face of the Fürst Löwenstein wines and she probably doesn’t need her face plastered all over Flickr or Pinterest.

Fürst Löwenstein Wine-tasting

After the chapel we were taken to a hall which was set up for our wine-tasting. Wine from the Löwenstein wine estate are sold under the brand name Fürst Löwenstein (Prince Löwenstein). The CF in the name of the wines is no doubt a reference to Carl Friedrich and you’ll also see his name etched on wine glasses.

Fürst Löwenstein Franconian wines are from the Homburg Kallmuth vineyard along the Lower Main river whereas the Riesling grapes are cultivated in their vineyards in Hallgarten in the Rheingau. We tasted three wines:

• CF Secco – a semi-dry prosecco-like sparkling wine made from 100% Rheingau riesling. This is a simple quaffing wine which we were told sells for about €6.00 in the shops.
• Homburg Kallmuth Riesling Kabinett 2010 in a bocksbeutel (Mateus Rosé-shape bottle). Franconia has the copyright on this bottle shape in Germany.
• CF Spätburgunder 2010 – A very pale-coloured wine (almost rosé-like) from Rheingau Pinot Noir grapes.

The wines we tasted didn’t bowl us over, but wine taste is a very personal thing.  Nevertheless, the experience at Schloss Kleinheubach was an enjoyable one and amongst our travel experiences we can now say that we’ve met a German princess.  After the wine-tasting we got to visit the beautiful wine storage area which was once the royal stables.

You can see more photos of our Fürst Löwenstein wine-tasting Here.

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