The Markenhof is now in its third generation of family ownership.
To date, new orchards of around 6 hectares of apples, 0.5 hectares of pears and 1 hectare of plums as well as a few cherry trees as perimeter planting have been created on the Markenhof. The apples and pears are stored in modern fruit cold stores and are sold directly throughout the year - firstly in the farm shop at Markenhof and secondly at two weekly markets in Kirchzarten and Freiburg-Littenweiler.
As a second mainstay, we have built up a modernfruit juice pressing plant at Markenhof over the years. As the preservation of apple juice became increasingly important over the years, we set up a pasteurisation plant with subsequent bottling.
Distillery
As on many Black Forest farms, the Markenhof initially had a small distillation licence for 50 litres of alcohol. In 1980, my father Dr Rolf Miedtke acquired a larger 300 litre distillation right to utilise the large quantities of orchard fruit, and we then found space for a modern fruit distillery in the new farm building built in 2007. A single distillation in the still produces a high-proof fine spirit. The basis for every good fruit brandy is a good mash. We grow the fruit for the distillery almost exclusively on the Markenhof itself. This means that they can be harvested when fully ripe and have the most flavour. Williams pears, Löhr plums, mirabelle plums, small brandy cherries, late-ripening plums and Rubinette apples are used for distillation. After harvesting, the fruit is mashed immediately: pears and apples are ground in a fruit mill, stone fruit is carefully chopped with a stirrer and cutter so that no stones are damaged. The mash is then acidified with sulphuric acid to prevent spoilage by bacteria and pure yeast is added to ensure that fermentation starts quickly. After approx. 6 weeks of fermentation, alcohol is produced from the fruit's own sugar, which can be separated from the mash by distillation.
As a direct marketer , we sell our products mainly to end consumers, the catering trade and smaller retailers. In addition to our own products (fruit, potatoes, juices, spirits), we also offer regional products (vegetables, cheese, honey, wine, mill products) in our farm shop. We mainly sell our own products at the weekly market in Kirchzarten and Freiburg Littenweiler.
