Weingut Bründlmayer

Even the late varietals in cooler sites have now completed flowering! We are quite pleased with the fast process compensating for part of the delayed start. It seems that we may begin the main harvest at about the same time as last year, at the beginning of October.

Despite the changeable weather with hot days, strong winds and some rain, we do not see too much coulure (unfertilized parts of the inflorescence “drizzle” to the ground, when the panicle is slightly shaken or touched by the hand of the grower). Massive coulure obviously means heavy losses in yield. On the other side, we do not wish too many berries clustering around the stems. When fully matured, they will be pressed against each other risking that some berry skins will burst and invite diseases to settle in.

One logical preventive procedure after flowering is to clean the clusters of all remains, blowing away those flower heads and unfertilized inflorescence by means of compressed air. At the same time, we are partly plucking off the leaves around the grape zone. It is a tricky question of where, when and how much of the foliage shall be removed. The grower will decide each vineyard individually depending on the varietal, site and weather situation. In general, grape zones of a vine line facing the eastern morning sun will be stronger pruned than those zones exposed to the more intensive afternoon sun radiation and thin skinned, more sensitive varieties will need more foliage protection than robust varietals in less sun-caressed spots.