VINTAGES IN BURGENLAND SINCE 1944
As wine growers we have our place of work outside in the nature. We fully run the risk of bad weather conditions. |
Vintners Diary 201031. August: cold and wind drying the soil. At these temperatures, there are no fungus infections at all.
27. August: its raining, but there is weather erosion nor hail
23. August: the reds of 2008 will be bottled. Weather still keeps unsteable, sun and rain changes.
18. August: we are back in the vineyards and cutting lateral grapes. Coloring of the grapes is doing quite wellnevertheless there is less sunshine the last days.
16. August: cellar work - we do labelling. Outside in the vineyard you cant do any work because the soil is too deep.
14. August: in the middle of the night the next heavy rain is coming. Again 40 liters per m². No hail. Thanks to our cover crop in the vineyards there is no erosion. The light hail of yesterday heartens the grapes nearly nothing.
13. August: 9 p.m. it begins raining heavily, a thunderstorm also with a bit of hail. 48 liters per m², thats a lot and the vines are happy.
9. August: the whole weekend it was warm and sunny. The grapes of Cabernet Sauvignon are changing color. We cut lateral grapes off to concentrate all the power to the main grapes.
3. August: its raining, but just 5 liters per m².
2. August: also Blaufränkisch begins with changing color. A wonderful summer day in the vineyards!
29. July: 21 liters of rain per m². Vines and also cover crop between the rows are happy.
28. July: the first berries are changing color. The whole last week have been hot and sunny - like it should be this part of the year.
20. July: early in the morning its cooler. We do green harvest.
12. July: now also the night temperatures are high. Our workers in the vineyards are beginning early in the morning when its slightly cooler. After noon we are working in the winery or making Siesta. Our vineyard worker can chose by their own.
5. July: the whole week heat. Foliage wall is fully buildt up and we are beginning with breaking out the laterals.
1. July: hot and dry - summer comes early this year!
2010 we had a long lasting winter. After a dry period till march it starts raining in April. Double the intensity of rain than normal. Late budbread and again lots of rain in may. June begins with rain and than weather turns and temperatures raises to 30°Celsius. Flowering from begin June to 20.June and because of cold weather conditions we lost 30 % of the crop - especially Blaufränkisch. |
vintage 2009
11.September: Pinot Noir is harvested. The grapes are tiny and also the berries are small like normally Cabernet Sauvignon. 14. September: We are harvesting Sauvignon blanc at the Steinmühle-vineyard. Grapes will be careful seledted in the cellar and be cooled down befor pressing.
16. September: We are harvesting again Zweigelt. The grapes are sweet and spicy. The skins are thick and this will give lots of ripe tannin to the wine. 17. September: We are finishing Zweigelt. Weather seems to hold for a while. We are happy about it.
Ready, we got it! The third variety is finished! 22.September: Blaufränkisch is ready for harvest. Warm, dry indian summer days thickened the berries. At harvest of Blaufränkisch our pickers make double the size of normal. So, in the cellar we have to hurry up to get all the grapes into the fermentation tanks.
29.September: the whole last week we harvested one vineyard after the next: Setz, Haussatz, Point, ... All in perfect condition. Now there is some time till Chardonnay from Tatschler and Gloria will be picked.
We hope weather is keeping good. In a few days we will go to pick Cabernet and all the Chardonnays. Now there is full moon and weather seems be be stable.
5. October: Sunshine never ends this vintage. We are picking Cabernet. 6. October: We are starting with Chardonnay. In the vineyards on the slopes of the Leithagebirge, the first leaves are turning their colour into yellow - a good sign for perfect maturity.
The first measuring of the must from Chardonnay Tatschler shows a potential alcohol of more than 14%!
Perfect grapes!!! The family and the whole pickers are enthusiastic about these grapes!
8. October: We did it! Just in time for lunch, the last grapes arrived. 2009 ranks in the series worthy of great vintages 9s. Top in white and red! |
8.September: Harvest starts with Zweigelt. Days are hot and sunny and the wines are under fermentation within one day.
21. September: We are harvesting Sauvignon blanc from the old vines. They are looking very strange, like a modern sculpture - large old healthy vines.
2008One ot the most difficult vintages leeds to extraordinary fine wines.
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2007High sugar gradations combined with lots of fruit for the whites and silky tannins with good body and lenght for the reds are the landmarks tor the 2007 vintage.
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2006Hot July, rainy August, sunny September - the short version of this vintage.
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2005Work in vineyard this year have been extremely important. Low yields by cluster thinning to ripen earlier. Open canopy to improve sunlight and avoid fungus diseases.
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2004: This year precise work outside in the vineyards is the only chance to produce high class wines. Our vineyards are worked like the picture on the right side. And on the other you can see that they are of perfect taste. All grapes are healthy, thick skins, perfect colour.
A summer with plenty of sunshine, but also sufficient moisture and an exceptionally beautiful Indian summer allowed the grapes to ripen fully. Perfect canopy management paid off. At mid November we harvested 3 Trockenbeerenauslesen. |
2003The shooting started late in spring due to continuously cold temperatures. As a result, we were not threatened by late frosts. From that point on, warm and sometimes midsummerlike temperatures paired with dry weather promoted highly accelerated growth and early flowering. Petrus´ motto seemed to be “two days of rain, ten days of sunshine.“ . |
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2002
After some calm days at the beginning of September, the noble rot Botrytis cinerea spread over the white varieties and Zweigelt. This meant a yield reduction of 20% for the latter grape and for dry white wines, as we started picking on September 13th. On October 9th, the Chardonnay grapes from Ried Gloria, North Burgenland’s highest vineyard, were finally picked. During the rainfall period that followed we feared for the botrytized berries. Around Austria’s national holiday, the ardently desired sunshine came back with a strong, dry wind. The noble-sweet berries shrivelled at a record rate. Chardonnay, Welschriesling und Sauvignon blanc could be harvested for the first time at high Beerenauslese levels, thus topping the 2002 vintage, which yielded even higher average gradations than the year 2000!!! 2002 will pass into the winery’s historic records as producing one of the leading vintages for white, red and sweet wines.
2001 2001 After a perfect growing season the early indications were that an exceptional vintage was to be expected. However, rain from end of August till mid-September destroyed any hopes for an unscathed fruit. Rigorous selection during the harvest safeguarded a small, but excellent crop.
The 2000 vintage produced amazing whites, above all Chardonnays, and outstanding reds. Yields were 30% below the long-term average due to extremely small, concentrated berries. |
2002 was another year of weather extremes in Europe. Amidst drought, flood and heavy foehn, Burgenland remained a source of tranquillity, always staying on the bright side. After medium-stage shooting, a dry period with warm temperatures promoted accelerated growth and early flowering. From then on, Petrus’ motto seemed to be “two days of rain, ten days of sunshine”.Thus, the vines did not have to suffer from the annual stress of aridity in July. When the disastrous tempests in August caused Austria’s biggest floodings for decades, our vineyards just received the optimum quantity of 70 liters of rain per square meter.
2000 |
1999 A summer with plenty of sunshine, but also sufficient moisture and an exceptionally beautiful Indian summer allowed the grapes to ripen fully. Perfect canopy management paid off, only Zweigelt suffered a little bit from the greenhouse-like growth conditions. Fantastic high prädikat wines. 1998 A perfect summer, yet heavy rain in September. A rigorous selection during grape picking ensured a small but fine harvest.
1997 A warm summer and a sunny autumn made that vintage the most memorable vintage of the decade and gave Burgenland the greatest reds ever produced.
1996 A cool year produced fresh and fruity whites and, above all, amazing prädikat wines. Our top reds were declassified, only Blaufränkisch and Zweigelt having been bottled. 1990 A very good vintage for whites and reds. 1989 A good vintage, primarily for prädikat wines. 1988 Large quantities of a satisfactory quality. 1987 After a rather mediocre summer, a beautiful autumn gave a good vintage. 1986 A very good vintage with strong and fullbodied wines. 1985 A very good vintage at a low yield caused by strong winter frosts. 1984 A medium vintage of a satisfactory quality.
1983 1982 The largest yield ever occurred in Austria produced modest qualities only. 1981 A great vintage for high prädikat wines, but there were also nice whites and reds. 1980 Grapes ripened very late, giving good light wines. 1979 The vintage of the century with very strong reds deep in color as well as outstanding sweet wines and white wines. 1978 A large crop that ripened late; appealing quality.
1977 A late frost at the end of March with minus 4°C caused a small yield of Blaufränkisch. Dry winds from the east led to highly concentrated wines made from thoroughly healthy grapes, similar to the 1971 vintage. 1976 A good vintage, particularly for high prädikat wines. 1975 A very good vintage for white, red and sweet wines. 1974 A medium vintage, grapes ripened late. 1973 A great vintage with beautiful reds and highly expressive prädikat wines due to intensive noble rot development and dry easterly winds. 1972 A small vintage of poor ripeness and high acidity. 1971 A very good vintage. Dry easterly winds encouraged the grapes to ripen fully while being thoroughly healthy, no noble rot. 1970 A poor vintage after lots of rainfall and little sunshine. 1969 Another vintage of the century. A very early primary ripeness of the grapes and heavy noble rot resulted in great wines with an excellent potential. 1968 A difficult vintage with satisfactory quantities. 1967 An exceptionally good vintage for prädikat wines comparable to those of 1963 in terms of both fullness and finesse. 1966 A good quality vintage, particularly as regards high prädikat wines. Our first trockenbeerenauslese. 1965 The worst vintage of the century after a summer without sun and never-ending rain. 1964 A record harvest at different qualities..
1962 1961 1960 1958 A record harvest of satisfactory quality gave crispy and fruity wines. 1957 A vintage of good quality based on healthy grapes, medium quantity. 1956 Heavy damage by winter frosts resulted in a very small harvest bringing about high-quality wines.
1954 A very large quantity of medium quality. 1953 Good red wines extremely rich in color, small quantities. 1952 A good quality at a low quantity. 1951 A medium quality at good yields. 1950 Large quantities, but of poor quality. 1949 A very good vintage gave low yields. 1948 Low yields of medium quality. 1947 Ideal climatic conditions produced one of the vintages of the century. 1946 An outstanding vintage. 1945 An early harvest (because of the occupying power) of excellent quality. 1944 The oldest vintage in the Kollwentz library |
1963 
1955 Good yields of appealing quality. 