"Deep Breathing"

Vintage 2011 in Retrospect

The winter had already turned grim by year's end and we narrowly avoided disaster in mid-December. Minus 21 degrees Celsius during the night of the 17th was a problem, thank God, only for the Merlot, whose excessive growth offered plenty of surface area for the cold. Zweigelt and other varieties were spared.

As we've seen in recent years, the winter evaporated abruptly in April to be replaced by summer – the weather gods seemed to have forgotten springtime. Despite the dry soil the vegetation shot out almost unrestrained, so that the first grape blossoms emerged at the end of May, three weeks earlier than the year before. This moment is decisive for the course of the vegetation of the coming year. At this point, after the flowering period had elapsed quickly, the growers knew that they could expect a timely wine year.

It remained dry and hot and Austria prepared itself for a "summer of the century". July arrived with cooler temperatures, but the numerous clouds mainly dropped their cargo in the west. The development of maturity in the grapes was slowed down by the more moderate temperatures, but on some of the steep slopes of the Kremstal, drought conditions were observed. In these cases drip-irrigation provided useful service in order to maintain quality.

Then an abrupt change of scene: August dashed violently back into the wine year and brought flawless sun and hot days, which were only interrupted by two brief thunder storms. Fortunately, our vineyards weren't hit by hail, which caused serious damage in some other wine regions.

On 5 September, we started with the harvest of Scheurebe-grapes for the "Schilfwein" (Reed-wine) wine which were immediately laid on reed mats in our glass-house to dry. On the same day, perfect Pinot Blanc grapes also arrived at the winery from Apetlon. This was followed in rapid succession by the Seewinkel Muscat and Chardonnay - again destined for sparkling base wine - and immediately afterwords came the first Zweigelt grapes for the classic wine "Hedwighof".

In Rohrendorf we opted for a fractional harvest and began on September 12th to select out 30 to 40% of the Grüner Veltliner and Riesling-grapes from the single vineyards Gebling, Breiter Rain and Schnabel. Previous experience in hot and dry years had taught us not to exceed sugar ripeness and to avoid obesity in the grapes. The lighter and vivid wines of the pre-harvest were blended with the more opulent and milder ones of the final harvest in order to achieve elegance and balance.
Nearly six weeks of daily unclouded sunshine made the harvest seem like a promenade. The harvest workers were largely spared difficult selection work, as the grapes showed balanced maturity and perfect health - and with very expressive aromas.

By the end of September, even the "Große Reserve" Zweigelt and Merlot grapes in Apetlon had been harvested, after the classic white wine grapes of the Kremstal. The Cabernet Sauvignon followed in the beginning of October. Ten days later, after a one week pause, we completed the harvest by picking the remaining Riesling grapes in the Gebling vineyard. Like the other crops, they were golden colored and delighted us with fantastic health and expressive taste.

The conclusion for 2011: a vintage that spared the nerves of the wine-growers and contributed to overall relaxation. For sure it will bring a lot of joy to wine-lovers!

BACK