Burgunder-Harvest
02. November 2004 | 11:23
During the past week, the Föhn, a warm, southerly wind, came to Langenlois, allowing us to conclude part of our harvest quickly, and in temperatures of up to twenty degrees Celsius.
The autumn winds have stripped most of the leaves from the vines, an created ideal harvesting conditions. The Langenloiser Spiegel Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc and our Chardonnays have all been harvested already.
Our most important vineyards, however, have not been harvested yet in this risky autumn. Risky, because the warm winds have carried with them the first botrytis infections, and this slows down the harvest considerably. Having to break up every bunch of grapes into healthy and botrytisized material, our harvesters can only work at twenty percent of the normal speed, compared to October.
For our clients this will mean that there will be once again Auslese, Beerenauslese and Trockenbeerenauslese of Grüner Veltliner and Riesling.
Rains on 31 October have stopped the harvest for a few days, and we are waiting for fresh, dry winds to blow away any remaining moisture. Only then will we be able to begin with the most important vineyards: Langenloiser Berg Vogelsang, Loiser Berg, Käferberg, Lamm (all Grüner Veltliner), Steinmassel and Heiligenstein (Riesling).
One thing is certain: 2004 will be a unique vintage, just as individual as 2003. The interaction of new climatic influences has created novel and very exciting opportunities and challenges.
