Wine Diary
to main harvest
Harvest of Sekt base wine went off quickly without a hitch – we got beautiful “sparkling clean” grapes, riper than all vintages before, but ideal to give our future Bründlmayer Brut, Extra Brut or Brut Rosé the perfect balance, as barrels filled with base wines of cooler vintages are patiently waiting in the cellar, available for a harmonic blending with the richer 2018s. Non-Vintage wines are always a composition of cool and warm, of light and powerful: Everything should be expressed in the sparkling wine in a fine, elegant way: no heaviness, no rusticity nor superficial, obstrusive aromas should spoil a genuine drinking pleasure.
Chardonnay Grape Juice
One special block of Chardonnay grapes from the higher situated Steinberg pleased us enormously: it was already a little too heavy for Sekt base wine, yet it showed freshness, lightness and really charming fruit and just seemed ideal for a grape juice! Looking forward to the final result.
Pinot Noir LYRA from Käferberg
As a general rule there are at least a couple of days, if not one to two weeks, between Sekt base wine picking and main harvest – 2018 we had no time for a long break – just enough to take a breath and off we went for a meticulous selection of exquisite Pinot Noir grapes waiting on the LYRA trellised vineyards of Käferberg. Now they rest entirely as whole clusters in one wooden fermentation vat. At the same time, we continually bring in light and fruity Grüner Veltliners from different younger vineyards.
More or less rain on weekends?
Last weekend we had a mere 3 mm of rain. Our green covered soils took it in immediately while temperatures went low for a while and the winds dried the foliage. This weekend the weather forecast shows some more rain – maybe this will give our team in the vineyards a well-earned break.
Today we have received some new barrels made of Ybbstal oak. We have a good chance to get grapes later in the season with the potential for complex single vineyard reserves. Those will profit from ageing in the 300-liter wood casks.