Harvesting our Sauvignon Blanc in the vineyard Steinmühle

24 Sep 2014 – General

The berries in a cluster of Sauvignon Blanc grapes sit rather tightly together, and thus are very susceptible to developing noble rot Botrytis cinerea.

We could’ve picked some three quarters of these grapes ten days ago, but they weren’t quite ripe enough at that point. Now they are fully ripened, but a good half of them are affected with noble rot. At this juncture, the precise phase of the noble rot is of critical importance for the pickers. If the botrytised berries are still firm and free of fungal growth, a cluster with 20% such grapes can be taken. All clusters with with a greater proportion of incipient Botrytis as well as clusters whose berries already show a film of mold are left hanging on the vine.
There is a really good chance that we’ll be able to harvest a Beerenauslese or even a Trockenbeerenauslese in a couple of weeks.