Wine Diary
And finally autumn is here!
This past weekend’s storm brought along cooler temperatures. For our purposes this is rather helpful as fresh winds rapidly dry up the vines after a dash of rain and tend to keep the grapes healthy. Also the temperature fluctuations contribute to greater complexity of the “Erste Lagen” wines.
Intermezzo on Heiligenstein
Yesterday we went on Heiligenstein to do a first careful “triage”. Into the green 25kg cases we picked a section of 100% pure Riesling grapes. A tiny quantity of carefully selected, perfect botrytized berries went into the red cases. Bad material was just cut and dropped to the ground where it will be a natural fertilizer for the soil. This intermezzo on Heiligenstein was advisable for several reasons: first of all, younger vineyards were relieved. We also chose the rows closer to the forest for this round, as the shy animals of the woods feel safer near their retreats and therefore prefer those areas. However, it does not seem advisable to wait too long before getting to the center of this great Riesling site. Maturity is well advanced and everywhere around Langenlois more and more growers have already finished picking. Thus, our remaining crus are more and more becoming targets of all hungry wildlife!
Good ripeness on Loiserberg
The last strong gusts of the storm front “Fabienne” were still pushing mighty clouds across the sky when we decided to go for the Grüner Veltliners on Loiserberg. Although this most western site counts for the coolest “Erste Lage” in Kamptal, its perfectly exposed terraces at over 350 meters altitude in general are not only blessed with fresh and clean grapes but also give high maturity! As a consequence, we are making good progress here.
Tomorrow the weather shall again calm down, and we are looking forward to more perfect picking days!