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2008 – a fruity, aromatic vintage

Moderate winter humidity and sound blossoming mark the first period of the vintage. The satisfactory fruit set and rainfall in spring challenged the wine grower’s decisions with regard to vineyard management and plant protection. Several hailstorms affected individual sites and resulted in a yield reduction of about 20% to 50%. The warm days and relatively cool nights provided for an intensive aromatic vintage. Selective harvesting of the individual vineyards, several runs of harvesting per vineyard and strict grape sorting were finally rewarded with fully ripened grapes. We started harvesting on September 19, 2008 with Pinot Noir from Nußberg. The actual quantity did not fully meet our expectations, but the quality of the grape material was sensationally good. Due to rainfall in autumn, harvesting had to stop several times in September. However, a period of fine weather in the second half of October allowed for the harvest of physiologically ripe grapes. On November 11, 2008 we finished this year’s harvest with a Gemischter Satz Beerenauslese from Nußberg.
Blossoming occurred very early during the second half of May under perfect conditions. Good fruit set, high temperatures and moderate rainfall in June, July and August allowed for similar conditions as in 2000 and 2003, however, consequent and laborious vineyard management was required. High temperatures in August necessitated pruning and yield reduction to stimulate the vegetation process which had partly come to rest.
We started harvesting on August 27 with Müller Thurgau showing 17,5 ° KMW. Our Pinot Noir was harvested between August 28 and September 3 with a must weight of 18,5° to 20,5° KMW.
Rainfall on September 5th, 6th and 7th proved ideal for grape development. Harvesting could be continued after one week of interruption. Selective harvesting and removal of “sunburn grapes” and slight rot reduced the yield and increased work. More than 30 workers were necessary to guarantee exact harvesting, and selective manual harvesting resulted in a reduction of up to 25% in the vineyard.