Wine Diary
A dry weekend (means no weekend)
“Pressing on“ with the picking
Thank God, the weekend over, it was dry enough to “press on“ with harvesting, and so we are approaching the finishing line. We profit from the healthy material and the perfect ripeness of the grapes. One had nothing to wait for, except for the dry hours, when the sun was out and the cool wind did its job.
Riesling LYRA and Alte Reben Heiligenstein are in, as well as Grüner Veltliner “Käferberg“, “Lamm“ and Vincent’s vineyard on “Spiegel“, all showing densities around 100° Oechsle – it is a real pleasure to taste the juice right off the presses and even more so, as soon as they have started stormy fermentation.
We are enthusiastic too about the quality of the Cabernet Francs of the 30-years old LYRA-trained vines on the lowest terraces right under the center of the Heiligenstein and of the recently picked Merlot grapes out of Vincent’s young Merlot vineyard.
It has started raining again. We will have to wait a few more days before bringing the 2015 vintage to a happy ending. However, no one worries: there is not a lot out any more and the few remaining old Grüner Veltliner sites (for Alte Reben) are blessed with thick skins and may withstand some rain without loosing quality.
The mood among our people is quite relaxed. Despite the usual stress in the cellar one enjoys a certain satisfaction, just like a shepherd may feel when he finally has brought the sheep home.