The madness continues.
22. September 2003 | 19:44
Again a week of splendid sun and daytime temperatures of 25-26°C! During the past week, we have continued with the harvest of the sparkling wine base wines. The harvested Pinot and Chardonnay grapes had a sugar graduation of 17-18° KMW. Like every year, the grapes are harvested in small, stackable boxes and quickly transferred to the press house. The grapes should get into the cellar with as little damage as possible. Any amount of time of leaving them to stand in their own juice would create an oxidation problem and would impair the quality of the wine.
During long tours through the vineyards (by foot or on the Bründlmayer vineyard bike) one can get a real feeling for the harvest and the development of the individual vineyards. This gives an impression of the
harvest, which is far more accurate than the analytical values. In a ripe vineyard, every single berry tastes unmistakable unique, and the taste changes from day to day.
Wine consists of so much more than sugar and acidity, and so we will drastically reduce the speed of the harvest, despite the wonderful weather and the very satisfying sugar gradations. We will wait for cooler
temperatures to harvest our wines. For this week, the red varietals of St Laurent and Zweigelt are on the list. They now have 19° KMW, corresponds to ca. 12.5% natural alcohol.