What a grape year!
I’d like to have one grape year with everything, please…
What a year! This season has put us winemakers to the test – from capricious weather to unforeseen delays, we have experienced pretty much every facet that viticulture can entail.
Spring already began with major challenges: The early budding of the vines was followed by frosty nights. Armed with frost candles and a thermometer, Valentin spent the night in the vineyard – prepared for the worst. The worst, the frost, did not come, but the cold took its toll on our vines and left its mark. Individual shoots and leaves suffered frostbite. However, in large numbers and as it turned out over the course of the season, it was bearable. The next challenge soon followed.
May and June were wet and cool. The shoots on the vines and the grass shot up at record speed. For us, this meant intensive foliage work and regular mowing. This work is essential. The risk of catching fungal infections is very high under such weather conditions. Looking back, we can say that the timing of our measures was right.
Shortly before the harvest began, the weather once again threw a spanner in the works. Unstable, changeable, simply unpredictable weather with rain, cold and sunshine made planning and organization extremely difficult. The harvest, which normally takes place in a manageable period of time, dragged on for weeks this year. Again and again, we asked ourselves the question: Will we find enough dry days between the rain showers to pick all the grapes on time and at their optimum time? Can we take the risk of waiting a little longer to achieve better sugar and acidity levels? Can we make a compromise without jeopardizing the quality of the grapes? Will we manage to harvest a complete variety in one day? And, last but not least, are our harvest helpers flexible enough for such short-notice changes?
Done – the new harvest is in the cellar
It was a nerve-wracking time, and yet – we made it. The entire harvest has been brought in and is now well supplied. Now it’s mashing and fermenting in the cellar, the cooling system is humming away, juices are moving from one tank to the next, the yeasts are working, the harvest helpers are resting. Just the way we like it.
Despite everything, we can look back on this wine year with satisfaction. The quantity may have been lower, but the quality of our grapes is impressive. So good, in fact, that we can make our special jeninser again this year! That makes us particularly happy, of course.
We are grateful for the harvest we have and proud of what we have achieved together in a challenging year.
And of course we would like to thank all our loyal old and new helpers who are actively supporting us during this time – without you it would be twice as stressful and only half as nice! A very big thank you!
