Vintage 2023

‘A single moment can change everything.’

– Christoph Martin Wieland

An eventful vintage comes to an end. After several dry years, finally the long-awaited rainfall, our water reserves are somewhat replenished.  A balanced, fruity and characterful vintage is in the cellar.

After the exceptionally dry vintage 2022, the following year also started without much rainfall with a mild and dry winter. The groundwater level in northern Burgenland fell to a minimum, causing great concern among winegrowers. Extreme, cold winds caused the soil to dry out further and it was not until the end of April that the long-awaited rainfall arrived and the vines were guaranteed a safe bud break. May was still wet and sunny with moderately warm temperatures. Just in time for the slightly delayed flowering in mid-June, the first warmer days appeared, and a hot and thundery July made a lot of foliage work and protective measures in the rapidly growing vineyards necessary. August was balanced with normal summer temperatures of just over 30°C and pleasantly cool nights, which are important for deep fruit development in the grapes.

In mid-September, we sharpened our scissors and started the main harvest in line with last year’s average at pleasantly normal temperatures and without excessive heat. We were able to bring in the early varieties such as Muskat, Sauvignon, Sankt Laurent and Pinot Noir with wonderfully healthy grapes. Grüner Veltliner and Zweigelt followed hot on their heels and so a large part of the harvest was already in the house. In the last third of September, we then took a few days’ break before bringing in the 4-year-old “maiden harvest” of our Cabernet Franc, followed by Merlot, Blaufränkisch and last but not least Cabernet Franc. An almost relaxed main harvest without any significant interruptions was finish by at the end of September and our this year’s efforts were crowned by a sensational Trockenbeerenauslese of Scheurebe (Sämling) at the end of October. The only drop of bitterness of the vintage was the very low yield of Zweigelt due to this year’s increased incidence of stem rot, which necessitated rigorous quality selection of the grapes and cost us a good 40% of the potential harvest.

In summary, however, we can be very satisfied with the 2023 vintage – while natural catastrophes such as hurricane-like storms and horrendous rainfall raged in large parts of the country, northern Burgenland was spared. Thick-skinned and for the most part perfectly healthy grapes were harvested and provided the basis for spicy, medium-bodied and fruity red wines and wonderfully fresh, elegant white wines – just as we would ideally like them to be. Look forward to a fruity 2023 vintage with very good balance and drinkability.