Turbulent vegetation course caused some challenges
Once again, the VDP.Prädikatsweingüter managed to harvest very good grape qualities despite some challenges in the vegetation course. Some regions have to accept significantly reduced yields for the umpteenth time. Intensive manual work and precise action as well as a good knowledge of the vineyard's own varieties paid off once again in the 2016 wine year.
"The great late summer turned the tide. The wet and cold spring and the first half of the summer really challenged us VDP vintners. Now we are reconciled and have musts in the cellars that give reason for all hopes", says Steffen Christmann, president of the Association of German Prädikat Wine Estates.
Vegetation and Harvest
NAfter an exceptionally mild winter without frost and snow, the cool, precipitation-rich first half of the year brought vintners a primary infection of downy mildew (peronospora) as early as May. The leaf disease, which has become rare in many places in recent years and for which damp weather is an ideal breeding ground, required very intensive foliage work and precise plant protection measures and presented great challenges, especially for organic viticulture. The rainy June, with few rain-free moments, complicated this task immensely. Fortunately, downy mildew has no effect on the quality of the wines, as it only affects the yield during this phase and does not affect the quality of the remaining grapes. In some areas, the total amount of precipitation of a whole year fell until the end of July, in some cases even up to one third more. Some vintners have to live with considerable yield losses. Frost and severe thunderstorms with hail and heavy rain also caused damages in the wine-growing regions, some of which were considerable.
Fortunately, the weather conditions changed at the end of July and gave the VDP vintners dry, warm late summer weather until well into autumn and thus ideal conditions for the ripening of healthy, ripe grapes. The cool nights and sometimes still hot days from September onwards favoured the decelerated ripening process and the optimal development of aromas in the grapes.
This allowed the VDP.vintners to start the harvest in a relaxed manner from mid-September onwards and to harvest immaculate, fully ripe grapes from the vine until November.
VDP.GROSSE LAGE® and VDP.ERSTE LAGE®:
In particular in the VDP.GROSSEN LAGEN® and VDP.ERSTEN LAGEN®, the VDP.wineries were able to harvest excellent qualities to the point. The musts from the fillets of the best sites promise wines full of intensity, which will express the site character of their respective vineyard in a complex and precise way. To achieve this, it is important to harvest the grapes at the optimal time of ripeness, at a healthy grape stage, and to avoid overripe grapes. A challenge during the harvest.
".the vineyards for the VDP.Grosses Gewächs Rieslings were picked neatly. First rots appeared, but could always be sorted out. There was no pressure, as the nights remained extremely cool and everything "conserved", so to speak. The harvest quantities in the steep slopes were almost higher this year than in the direct vineyards; as many things were different in 2016 than usual." Felix Peters, VDP.Weingut St.Antony (Rheinhessen)
Voices from the regions
Rheinhessen - classic vintage with rather low alcohol levels
"We can look forward to a classic 2016 vintage. Especially the Rieslings present themselves remarkably clear. The 2016 wines will be slightly lower in alcohol, but still have flavor density as well. The dry, sunny weather and always cold nights during ripening will show great expressions in the young wines." Philipp Wittmann, VDP.Weingut Wittmann (Westhofen)
Ahr - one of the best Pinot Noir vintages of the past 20 years
"The 2016 vintage will certainly rank among the best of the past 20 years. Core-healthy and colour-intensive early and late Pinot Noirs we were allowed to harvest in the past weeks. Despite critical moments in the wet summer, the beautiful August and September weather gave us a very good red wine vintage in the Ahr valley." Ludwig Kreuzberg, VDP.Weingut Kreuzberg (Dernau)
Baden - Must weights in the ideal range everywhere
"The yields of the top VDP.GROSSER LAGE® and VDP.ERSTER LAGE® grapes are in the average of the last years, the must weights are in the ideal range everywhere. In the wine-growing regions where late frosts occurred, the harvest volumes were unfortunately somewhat lower, especially for VDP estate wines and VDP local wines. The young wines are very fruity with an animating freshness and a complex structure. On the whole, the vintners were rewarded for their above-average intensive work in the vineyard throughout the year with a relaxed harvest and an outstanding vintage." Joachim Heger, VDP.Weingut Dr. Heger (Ihringen)
Franconia - First-class qualities despite frost, hail and continuous rain
"The weather-related impairments were very versatile this year. Locally, frost was the order of the day in spring, and after budbreak in the Ochsenfurt-Würzburg area, a heavy hailstorm set vine development back to zero. With the long-lasting summer rainfalls, there was strong fungal pressure in the river valleys of the Main. However, if the special local conditions with viticulture and plant protection were dealt with appropriately in 2016, good qualities could be produced in sufficient quantities. A staggered hand harvest of the late varieties Silvaner and Riesling was necessary, so that by mid-October, not only the whole range of light, drinkable estate and local wines as well as full-bodied, ripe VDP first sites, but also first-class candidates for the Grosse Gewächs and noble sweet specialties could be harvested." Johann Ruck, VDP.Weingut Johann Ruck (Iphofen)
Mittelrhein - Low Yields Produce Special Aromatics
"The 2016 vintage is characterized by relatively low yields. On average, the VDP.vintners of the Middle Rhine harvested only 30-40 hl per hectare. However, we are more than satisfied with what we have harvested. We were able to harvest healthy, golden yellow grapes and the musts present themselves with a nice aroma and a wonderfully integrated acidity. " Jochen Ratzenberger, VDP.Weingut Ratzenberger (Bacharach)
Moselle - A year of great challenges with low yields
"The year of great challenges! Frost, long period of rain, hail, peronospora, dry period, wild boars and now lots of birds! The year has spared us from nothing. But in the end everything will be fine. The first Riesling musts were harvested with 85° - 90° Oechsle and 8 - 9 g/l acidity: fruity, light, harmonious - but they make a lot of work in the selection. It is the classic: if´s gives little - there´s even less!" VDP.Weingut Reichsgraf von Kesselstatt (Morscheid)
Nahe - A year that promises great Kabinett and fine Spätlese
"The year 2016 has been a year of weather extremes on the Nahe. A mild winter, late frost at the end of April, heavy rainfall with flooding at the end of May, drought in August and isolated hail events made for restless nights. Fortunately, the tide turned for the better in early September. Sunny September with dry weather ensured uniform ripening of the grapes and the best grape health. Fortunately, the weather extremes only led to volume losses, while the qualitative conditions at the beginning of the harvest, around 10 October, were excellent. The relatively late harvest with cool temperatures did the rest to ensure that very fine, elegant wines can be expected in the Nahe region in 2016. Until October 19, the harvest was very relaxed and often characterized by waiting. The following rainy week often caused pauses in harvesting, only to continue harvesting at high pressure under blue skies and now with best aroma ripeness. The majority of the single-vineyard wines were harvested between the end of October and the beginning of November. Around the 4th of November, most wineries successfully finished the harvest. 2016 is a year that promises great Kabinett and fine Spätlese wines, as well as very elegant dry growths. All in all, the yields of the VDP.wineries in the Nahe are probably 10-20% below average." Frank Schönleber, VDP.Weingut Emrich-Schönleber (Monzingen)
Pfalz - Patience was rewarded with excellent grape quality
"It is quite an extraordinary vintage: because we paused more during the harvest than we harvested! However, the reason was not, as one might quickly assume, bad weather, but the fantastic grape quality. That's why we were able to harvest up to 2ha on some days with our harvest team. Due to this great progress in the harvest, we had to pause again and again to wait for the optimal ripeness again." Hansjörg Rebholz, VDP.Weingut Ökonomierat Rebholz (Siebeldingen)
Rheingau - Prospect of consumer-friendly Riesling year
"I have rarely trembled so before a harvest as this year. Actually, never before, to be honest. Blame the weather, the rain and the downy mildew. How far theory is often from practice, 2016 shows impressively. My fear was unfounded. We did harvest very little Pinot Noir, unfortunately. With Riesling, on the other hand, it doesn't look as bad as I feared. Everything is somehow in balance - and that's good. The musts taste great. The acids are pretty low. So, the whole could give a consumer-friendly Riesling year." Dirk Würtz, VDP.Weingut Balthasar Ress (Hattenheim)
Saxony /Saale-Unstrut - Especially red wines benefit from sunny late summer
"Thanks to the sunny September, above all the Burgundy varieties, like Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc, Chardonnay as well as Pinot Noir, have benefited. Especially red wine fans can look forward to high-quality drops. It was an ideal year for red wine, everything has matured very nicely and the wines show a nicely pronounced, ripe fruit."Dr. Georg Prinz zur Lippe, VDP.Weingut Proschwitz (Meissen)
Württemberg - Very extensive harvest with very good results
"The 2016 wine harvest in Württemberg has brought very good results in terms of quality and quantity. A very extensive harvest, which mostly started in the second half of September and not infrequently lasted 6-7 weeks, will remain in our memories. Each vineyard and each grape variety could be harvested at the optimal time. The weather at ripening time with hot days and cool nights has shaped the fruitiness and character of the wines. One can be excited about the 2016 vintage." Markus Drautz, VDP.Weingut Drautz-Able (Heilbronn)
The Association of German Prädikat Wine Estates (VDP) is the oldest national association of top wine estates in the world. 198 Prädikatsweingüter have imposed strict quality standards and benchmarks on themselves - from vineyard to bottle. The four-level VDP.classification pyramid, adopted in 2012, defines the quality of their wines according to origin: VDP.GUTSWEIN, VDP.ORTSWEIN, VDP.ERSTE LAGE® and VDP.GROSSE LAGE®. The VDP. grape eagle on the bottle capsule is the quality seal. It stands for a terroir-formed and artisanal winemaking
