For ten years now, Berthold Schmachtenberger and his son Markus together have been running the Schmachtenberger winery. Of course, this is a short period of time against the background that the Schmachtenbergers can look back on 700 years of winegrowing tradition in their family. The sign of the torch-bearing griffin, a Christian symbol of protection intended to indicate prudence and bravery, has been associated with the winegrowing family since the times of Emperor Charles IV.
In 1370, the Schmachtenbergs were granted their coat of arms. The Randersackerer branch of the family first settled in nearby Eibelstadt from 1598 on. Later, they moved away, leaving the old town of Randersacker altogether, and into the Gerbrunn Valley. In 1924, Michael-Josef Schmachtenberger built the first Aussiedlerhof (settlers' farm) in the wine-growing community on the upper Klosterstraße. And in 2013, Berthold and Markus Schmachtenberger were able to present their new vinotheque, which was added to the south of the old residential house, to the public. Space for the new building was actually only left in the front garden, which lay deep below the existing building. However, this gap in the terrain was now ideal for the new building. The vinotheque is located on the upper floor. A panorama window set at the corner allows a view of one of Randersacker's best vineyards. In the vineyard location "Ewig Leben" (eternal life) one could imagine the paradise already. Markus Schmachtenberger is devout when he draws the guests’ attention in the vinotheque on the view of the Gerbrunner valley and to the Ewig Leben. The successful young winemaker is also an enthusiastic Franconia wine guide and says of himself that he is a geology freak. The most beautiful expression of his passion can be seen when one descends the vinotheque via the interior staircase to the first floor of the new building to the tasting room. There, you are not accompanied by a mere room decoration on the wall, but by a shell limestone step that provides information about the grape varieties and about the geological formations in the region, about the vineyards and the terroir.
