Wine Diary
Yummy!
Earlier varietals on the warmer sites are fully ripe.
The earliest Zweigelt and Pinot Noir vineyards are ready for harvest. It is amazing how this beautiful early Autumn accelerates ripeness!
Last week grapes were already too mature for sparkling base wines, but ideal for lighter rosés. This week we are harvesting the first Zweigelts and Pinot Noirs for our red reserves! Those lighter rosé bases safely stocked in our cellar will be enriched by a bit of the so called “Saignée” from our tanks full of Zweigelt must. This means about 10% of the juice in this tanks will be allowed to drain to another tank – thus the ratio of grape skins in relation to the juice is greater. This will help us to obtain denser wines with more intense colour and more elegant tannins. On the other hand the 10% of “Saignée” will enrich the light and crisp Rosé wines and add some round, soft and ripe characteristics.
This Monday morning, we will set out for the Pinot Noir grapes in our earlier vineyards. There, the first berries on the bunches start to shrivel without being afflicted by Botrytis (noble rot). The first lot will be harvested this week, of which we still might expect some elements of “green freshness”. Next week we will bring in a second part that should add some softer flavours of ripeness to the cuvée.
This year's Pinot Noirs will be vinified in wooden fermentation vats, and the cap of the fermentation will be gently punched down from time to time, just like a hundred years ago! We are, of course, curious to see what the results will be!
Every beautiful day is always welcome, as Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc also should be ready any day now. Their sugar levels translate to almost 13 %Vol of potential alcohol, which would be ideal for the resulting wines.