Racking the Reds

Following a maceration period of more than three weeks, our various
Blaufränkisch and the Cabernet Sauvignon were drawn off the skins during the
last couple of weeks.
After feeding the free-run juice (about 80% of the total) into barriques,
our next task involves emptying out the mash and pressing it.
The press wine is then decanted separately into its own barriques.
And we are very excited to follow the further development of this great
vintage!

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Crossing the Finish Line!

The wonderful weather blessed us with terrific Blaufränkisch and Cabernet
Sauvignon grapes to conclude the harvest.

2015 is one of the best vintages of the past 50 years!

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Blaufränkisch in the Ried Setz

Today it is sunny and windy. Historically, the Blaufränkisch grapes in the
Setz are the earliest to ripen.

Despite this we picked the Ried Point first out of respect for the
threatening rain, since the soils there are more moisture-retentive, and
there is a danger of the vines pumping too much water into the grapes.

Setz, with its light fossil-rich soil of limestone and slate is very quick
to despatch water into the deeper layers of the ground, so that the berries
remain unaffected.
They are fully ripe and sweet, with crisp skins. Many are shrivelled-up, but
in a healthy condition.

The sugar-gradation is extremely high, reinforcing our estimate of the
vintage's superior quality.

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The first of the Blaufränkisch

The weather forecasters are promising rain for the weekend.
So with all the hands we can muster, we are picking as much of the
Blaufränkisch grapes in our Ried Point as quickly as we can.
We can already see shrivelled berries in healthy shape, no botrytis, which
is the hallmark of a great vintage.
And the weather held off—we've done with harvesting the Point.

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The whites are all in the house!

Thanks to our energetic support crew, the white wine clusters are now nearly
all in the cellar.
Our dog Ian, a male Hovawart, helped himself to a sampling, while the
woodland birds, pheasants and deer consumed significantly more-
and even the pickers enjoy nibbling on grapes at harvest time.

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Harvesting our Gloria

As the crowning conclusion to the white wine harvest, we are picking the
Chardonnay in Ried Gloria today.
We've got simply wonderful autumn weather for harvesting these fully ripened
grapes.
2015 looks to be a truly great vintage.

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Chardonnay from the Neusatz

Harvest, destemming, a light crushing, pressing – and then directly 'en
pièce' it goes; a Burgundian-sized cask containing 228 litres...

Our Ried Neusatz, with its favourable southernly exposure, is fully ripe –
the refractometer shows a solid 21° on the Klosterneuburg scale—
close to 104° Oechsele.

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