Hoffest am Stein

What to Expect at the Hoffest am Stein

The Hoffest am Stein is one of Franconia's most intimate and atmospheric wine celebrations, held annually in late summer at Weingut am Stein — a legendary winery perched on the slopes above Würzburg, directly beneath the Marienberg Fortress. Unlike the large-scale Weindorf (Wine Village) in the city center, the Hoffest is a family-run open-house celebration at one of Franconia's most respected estates, offering visitors a rare opportunity to taste wines in the exact vineyards where the grapes were grown, with views of the Main River valley, the Würzburg skyline, and the baroque palace below. It's the kind of event where the winemaker himself pours your glass, tells you about the soil composition of the vineyard behind you, and lets the Franconian evening do the rest of the explaining.

Weingut am Stein has been producing wine on this site since at least the Middle Ages, and the family-run estate is today one of the most awarded and critically acclaimed in all of Franconia. During the Hoffest, guests can walk through the vineyards on marked tasting trails that move from parcel to parcel, sampling single-vineyard wines that express the mineral character of the specific limestone and keuper soils beneath their feet. The estate's signature wines — dry Silvaner, crisp Riesling, and elegant Spätburgunder — are served from temporary stands set up among the vines, paired with local cheese, bread, and charcuterie sourced from Franconian farms. The atmosphere at the Hoffest is deeply personal: you'll sit at communal wooden tables under the open sky with the fortress rising above you, listen to live acoustic music from local musicians, and experience Franconian wine culture not as a product but as a living landscape. It's the rare festival where you don't consume the product — you inhabit it.

Getting There

Weingut am Stein is located on the hillside south of Würzburg's old town (on the Steinberg vineyard slope). The winery is reachable on foot from Würzburg's Marktplatz in about 15-20 minutes, following the marked walking path that climbs the hillside past vineyard terraces and through wooded trails. By car, it's a 5-minute drive from the city center, with parking available at the winery entrance during the festival. Public transport (Würzburg bus lines) also runs to the area during the event.

Nearby Attractions

• Marienberg Fortress (Festung Marienberg): Directly above the vineyards, this imposing hilltop fortress offers the best views in Franconia. The fortress walls provide a dramatic vantage point overlooking the vineyards, the Main valley, Würzburg, and the distant hills of the Spessart mountains.
• Würzburg Residenz: The UNESCO-listed baroque palace in the city center below is one of the most important and beautiful palaces in Europe, with a ceiling fresco by Tiepolo that is the largest in the world.
• Old Main Bridge (Alte Mainbrücke): Würzburg's iconic 12th-century stone bridge (the city's answer to Prague's Charles Bridge), lined with baroque statues and offering sunset views over the river with the Marienberg Fortress in the background.
• The Wine Walk (Weinwanderweg): A marked trail through the Würzburg vineyards connecting Stein, Leiste, Würzburger Stein, and Randersacker — an easy, beautiful walk with world-class wine tasting at every stop.

Wine Pricing & Local History

At the Hoffest am Stein, individual wine tastings cost €3–€6 per glass, with premium single-vineyard selections priced up to €8–€10. Bottles to take home range from €12 to €40+ depending on the vineyard and age. Weingut am Stein's history stretches back to at least the 12th century, when the slopes below the Marienberg Fortress were first planted with vines by the bishops of Würzburg. For centuries, this land was owned by the Prince-Bishops, and the wines from the Stein vineyard were served at the imperial courts in Vienna and Rome. After secularization in the early 19th century, the vineyards passed into private hands, and today the estate is run by the Stein family, who have brought it to international critical acclaim. The Hoffest tradition began as an annual family gathering open to friends — it has since grown into an essential date on the Franconian wine calendar, but has retained the intimate, personal feel of an open house at a working winery. For anyone who wants to understand Franconian wine beyond the tasting room, the Hoffest am Stein is the perfect experience: standing in the vineyard, with the glass in your hand and the fortress above you, the wine makes a kind of sense that no urban tasting room can provide.