Wine Diary
Hang on to the end!
The weather has held as predicted, though morning mists get denser. And we too will have to hold on a few more days!
Red straggler
Finally Cabernet Franc has arrived in the cellar with perfect ripeness! This latecomer is now on skins in a wooden fermentation vat, while Zweigelt, Pinot Noir and Merlot, which already have been pressed, rest in different casks for further maturation.
Muskateller from Rosenhügel (rose hill)
Our Rosenhügel Muskateller is usually picked relatively late and therefore always very carefully selected. Following the 2015 example we are aiming again at a first class, fully mature, aromatic dry wine. The challenge hereby is to combine density, aromatic intensity, elegance and purity in order to create a role model of a complex and potent Muskateller in contrast to so many “early fainting beauties.”
Old Vines ferment well!
These final mild days of Autumn will be dedicated to our last old vine Grüner Veltliner vineyards still to harvest. In many of these sites we “had divided grapes”. Almost half of each bunch had been cut off in early summer. The remaining berries got more space and energy. Yield thereby is reduced painfully, yet the quality of the grapes benefits significantly.
Where this way of reducing quantity was not suitable, we did a pre-harvest in early October while also plucking off the leaves around the fruit zone. This helped the grapes to quickly dry after an autumnal rain shower. Moreover the grapes do not have many points of direct contact with leaves where opportunistic microbes might settle in. Here too the results will be healthy berries with high physiological ripeness (dark seeds and lignified stems) and an intensive fruity and spicy taste.
So far the first “Alte Reben” lots in the cellar are doing very well. They have begun fermentation without problems.