From vineyard to cellar March 2013

The 2012 wines are developing quite nicely. The extremely long and exacting harvest was worth the effort. The fully ripe taste of the grapes is reflected in that of the wines - the acidity is perceptible but ripe. Particularly brilliant are the off-dry wines and those with natural ripe sweetness. Our Hattenheimer Schützenhaus is a very special wine. It has enormous charisma and is already nearly crystal clear. Overall, it seems that 2012 could be a Hattenheim and Erbach vintage. Even at this early stage, the wines from this portion of the Rheingau clearly stand out. Despite the high risk of infection last year, the grapes - and the wines produced from them - were quite extraordinary. Our Rüdesheim wines are still in cask on the gross lees. As is typical of the wines of these great Rheingau sites, they are still completely closed, yet already hint at their future potential. It would be hard to imagine anything less. After all, we harvested in these sites well into November.

We've basically completed our winter work in the vineyards. All vines have been pruned and the cuttings removed from the wires. Now, the remaining fruit canes, which will later bear buds and grape clusters, will be bent and tied down. We've started to think about soil management, tasks that will take place in late March and early April. In addition, we've selected additional vineyards that we'll be cultivating organically as of this year. We continue to take the subject very seriously and we're even considering acquiring some livestock in the future. In order to get a feel for the whole thing, we're going to begin with a dozen chickens. We've planned a large chicken coop with a free-range enclosure - a sort of "chicken spa," if you will. Then, every day there'll be fresh Ress eggs from organic chickens...

Our largest project coming up this spring, though, is planting about three hectares (ca. 7.5 acres) of new vines in Hallgarten. We'll be cultivating these new vineyards organically right from the start.