From vineyard to cellar August/September 2014

I’m anxious to see what will happen. This is probably a brief intermezzo. I think it will continue to be dry and relatively warm. Summer will return with a fury!

Blossoming was picture perfect. There’s no other way to describe it. Everything points to a relatively orderly, relaxed vintage. Thus far, plant protection measures have proceeded without a great deal of pressure. We removed quite a bit of foliage and now, thanks to the rain, we can think about doing some meaningful soil work. If we were to harvest tomorrow, I’d say the barrels would be full. Until then of course, lots can happen, but I’m simply hoping for a halfway normal vintage. I’ve had it with the weather extremes of the last few years...

In the meantime, we’ve bottled our great, dry wines from the sites Rüdesheimer Berg Rottland and Schlossberg. They will be designated as VDP.Grosse Gewächse® wines and they already show that we were right on track last autumn. Both wines have the potential to become something really special. The Nussbrunnen is still bubbling along a bit, as is our RESSpekt. Everything is proceeding according to plan. This is somewhat reassuring.

In all, I have to say that our delay in harvesting last autumn has paid off. Our 2013 wines show a concentration and clarity that I’ve not experienced here before. That helps compensate a bit for the pitifully small quantities we harvested. And yes. I am a bit proud about this, if I do say so myself...