From vineyard to cellar May 2014

Thus far in 2014, the growing season has been earlier and quicker that usual. Even in February, it was unseasonably warm; there was hardly any rainfall; and growth was clearly ahead of schedule. More and more, 2014 is resembling 2003 – an unusual year. This has meant an accelerated pace for us, too. We’ve had to hustle to wrap up our seasonal tasks on time. We had only finished bending and tying the canes about two days before bud burst began. The dry weather also caused problems. The bone dry soils were virtually impossible to cultivate. Fortunately, by accurately biding our time, we were able to implement first measures pretty much on schedule.

 

In the meantime, nearly all of our basic wines as well as some of our VDP.ERSTE LAGE wines (from first-class vineyards) have been bottled. Compared with earlier vintages, we started bottling a bit later this year. Every day longer on the lees lends the wines more character and smoothness. In addition, some wines have not yet fermented through to a dry style. Fortunately, most of these musts have resumed fermentation. Now, we just have to wait and see what happens.