Another eventful, even shattering year in terms of global politics lies behind us. Even viticulture does not remain unaffected by the major issues of our time. Inflation, wage increases and energy costs are affecting the industry, as are things that have been neglected for many years. Sustainability, not only in the ecological but also in the economic sense, is a major challenge for the industry, which has often lived off the substance for many years. Many wineries have become very large in the recent years – farming larger areas efficiently with ever better technology seemed to be the way out. However, it often turns out that this way can also lead to a dead end, to a hamster wheel. Two years ago, when we announced our decision to downsize our winery, we were sometimes viewed with some surprise. Now, two years later, we feel vindicated. Becoming larger and more efficient is usually not possible without sacrificing quality. We have reduced our production by almost thirty percent and now we only work in locations where we can meet our own high standards. We are aware that this is a great luxury. The foundation for this was laid many years ago by Fritz and Steffen, when they concentrated on the best, but somewhat less popular sites around Gimmeldingen and Königsbach. This is how the Idig came into our possession, which today is the heart of our winery. Today, access to these outstanding locations is a great stroke of luck. The calcareous soils and cooler slopes characterize our wines. They are our home and the basis of our work.
The idea of redesigning our assortment has occupied us for a long time. Intensively we thought about how to take this step and whether we were too bold, too progressive or too fast. But the desire to focus the winery on the best was too strong. Therefore, the conversion took place in 2022. All vineyards that are not VDP.Erste and Große Lagen have been given away. In addition to our single-vineyard wines, there is now only one wine per variety, “Aus den Lagen”. These wines, which come 100% from our classified vineyards, are hand-picked, spontaneously fermented and carefully blended. This allows us to devote all our attention to our best vineyards and to implement our focus on wines of origin even more consistently.
After two years, we know that the decision was absolutely right for us. Now there is not a single wine in our range that is not backed by large vineyards, careful work and a lot of thoughts. We would like to thank you for the great encouragement and your willingness to follow this consistent path with us. The next step included to release all Rieslings in fall, too. Thus, in our cellar we no longer make a distinction between “Aus den Lagen”, Erster Lage and Großer Lage. All wines are separated from the yeast at the same time, blended and finally bottled. This gives the wines even more time and us the chance to really get to know the wines in detail before they are bottled in July and finally enter your cellars in September.
September 02 – 29, 2023
The biggest challenge in viticulture is the weather. We have to take the weather as it comes. With careful manual work, timely soil cultivation, sowing and species-rich planting, we can however do a lot. The year 2023 was characterized by long periods of good weather but also rain. While the rainfall in July and August was initially welcome, the weather then became a challenge in mid-August. Especially during the véraison, the discoloration of the grapes, the sensitivity increases and the risk of rotting gets bigger. As the grapes absorb water, they become plumper and threaten to burst. These spots are the starting point for rot of all kinds. The long, golden late summer only set in with the start of the grape harvest at the beginning of September. The sun dried the incipient rot and turned everything around. Nevertheless, some bad bunches had to be cut out by hand, berry by berry. It was a harvest in which we could not have harvested perfect grapes without the more than 60 hard-working hands of our team and their many years of experience. 2023 is clearly a year in which the wheat will be separated from the chaff. We were rewarded with a harvest of wonderfully ripe Pinot Noir, fresh Pinot Blanc and small-berried, extract-rich Riesling. The fermentation went quickly and the wines are dense, with fine fruit acidity and length – again a great pleasure!