One of Germany’s thirteen ANBAUGEBIETE (quality-wine regions) that lies just east of the city of Frankfort, along the Main River. The river (and the region) follow a large, shaky-W shape in the northern part of Bavaria, around the university city of Würzburg (Franken’s capital). The climate in Franken (known as Franconia in English) can be quite cold, and the approximately 15,000 vineyard acres are planted mainly with white grapes. MÜLLERTHURGAU is the primary grape here, followed by silvaner (see SYLVANER) and BACCHUS. RIESLING doesn’t perform well in Franken’s short growing season. Silvaner produces this region’s best wines, which are often compared to white wines from France’s BURGUNDY region in terms of richness and BODY (although the flavors are quite different). Most Franken wines, which have a slight EARTHY flavor regardless of the grape used, are different from those in other parts of Germany in that they’re DRY rather than sweet. Wines with less than 4 grams of sugar per liter (0.4 percent) are identifed by the term Fränkisch Trocken (see TROCKEN). Franken wines also differ in that many are bottled in unique, flat-sided flagons called BOCKSBEUTEL. Franken wines are sometimes referred to as Steinwein, after the region’s most famous vineyard Würzburger Stein (see WÜRZBURGER), a 210-acre EINZELLAGE. The region has three BEREICHS—Maindreieck, Mainviereck, and Steigerwald. The Bereich names are often found on the region’s wine bottles since there are no GROSSLAGEN. Franken wines aren’t well known outside the region because most of the production is consumed locally.