Blending the Steinzeiler

We are taking advantage of a couple rainy days to blend our 2017 Steinzeiler.

First, we taste the various lots.

Then the individual components are blended together to create the cuvée, and the casks are washed out.

Next, we burn sulphur in the barrels, and the Steinzeiler goes back into cask for an additional 18 months.

www.kollwentz.at

Work in the vineyards

We are now hard at work in our vineyards, with three tractors and a team of eleven.

Dali is clearing out unwanted growth from around the base of the vines, using an implement that cuts weeds with rotating filaments.

Kollwentz Senior is loosening the topsoil with a disc harrow.

Most of our other co-workers are ‘threading’ vine shoots on the trellis wires.

www.kollwentz.at

Mulching

The greencover is being mulched – this once more provides a great quantity of organic material as fodder for the earthworms,
while the layer of mulch also guards against the topsoil drying out.

The organic material will decompose and the resulting nutrients
will be available to the vines during flowering in three weeks – at the time of greatest need.

www.kollwentz.at

Planting grapevines in the Katterstein

We are planting a vineyard up in the Ried Katterstein, situated high above Kleinhöflein and Eisenstadt.

Here, the Chardonnay vines in this southeast-oriented site are rooted in stony soil.

In the upper part it’s mica schist, while limestone predominates in the rest of the vineyard.

To the north and the east, the forests of the Leitha Range border the vineyard; to the west are orchards, meadows, more vineyards and ultimately the Ried Tatschler
www.kollwentz.at