Status report by Dirk Würtz, our estate manager - 2 August

Although it was quite cool the past few days, the grapes have continued to develop. I saw numerous measurements today: Dornfelder already has 46° Oechsle; Spätburgunder, 36°Oe; Riesling, 30°Oe; and Grauburgunder (Pinot Gris), 43°Oe (readings taken in the Rheingau). This means grape vegetation has increased by some 10 to 15°Oe since last week. That’s considerable progress. In the meantime, there’s talk that the ripening will be the earliest since 1955 (since readings have been recorded in the Rheingau). In fact, growth is already ahead of what it was at this time in the exceptionally warm year of 2003. I assume that most readers can still remember that “record” year. Now, the grapes are ripening even earlier. Just imagine...

The grapes still look very good. I’ve seen a few small patches of mold, but only on Weissburgunder (Pinot Blanc) vines. Otherwise, everything looks picture-perfect – grapes and vines alike. But it remains to be seen what the final results will be. It's probably not possible to postpone an early harvest start, we’ll see who actually fires the starting shot. The first Federweisser (grape juice in the process of fermenting) will definitely be on the market this month...

Basically, I feel a bit uneasy. I don’t really like the looks of things. I simply hope that we don’t get lots of rain combined with warm temperatures. That wouldn’t be good. The reports from the viticultural authorities all warn that it will be absolutely necessary to use fungicides to combat botrytis. They feel there’s an increased risk of botrytis infection...although I’m not a great fan of these plant protection measures, I understand why they’re issuing this warning.

In general: everything is possible, nothing is impossible...cross your fingers that the weather holds!