October 26th, 2006
Once in a hundred years vindemiation

At great weather we finished this year's vindemiation-season at 6.00 p.m.
Riesling Wechselberg Spiegel and Gruener Veltliner Ofenberg had been the last locations.

For me as a vintager I'd say if there is any season which deserves to be called a once-in-a-hundred-years-season, so this just gone once of 2006.

My father, his age group is 1930, speaks from vintage 1947 all the time, which could be classed to same categories.
(In the year 1947 sugar was gained predominantly supported by Botrytis - of course I'd prefer to achieve at least same results with grapes of good health)

My grandfather, he's born 1898, often told stories about the great vintage 1917, whenever he told stories about vindemiation.
To quote his words exactly he said:
"Haenschen, I hope you'll become a vintager some days and I wish you a lot of vintages like 1917."

I think his wishes had been totally fullfilled for the first time this year. All grapes found their way to the cellar at dreamful weather conditions. From now on they can spend enough time to ferment softly and slowly. The first once are already finished (Blickenweg, Green und Gruener Veltliner Strassertal).

You can already tell that it's going to be a great gorgeous vintage.

October 24th-25th, 2006
Chardonnay Hasel

We are still at location Hasel. Now it's the Chardonnay which is the next to be.
Golden berries being in a rude health condition with sugar content of 21 degrees - optimal grape fruit of which dreams are made of it.
But for our Chardonnay we come up with something special. It is no longer brewing in 225l-Barriques, but in our new 600l-casks, which are from the Allier region as well and toasted exactly the same way as the Barriques.

October 23rd, 2006
Sauvignon Hasel

Today we start vintaging for Sauvignon Hasel. Golden Sauvignon-grapes with enormous flavour aren't only perfect for great Sauvignon Hasel, recently picked once are tasting fantastic as well.
The grapes are put into the squeezing machine very carefully and softly pressed.
The extracted juice is being added to the skins again and all together is to be fermented for four hours. That's the way how to leach out intencity of the fruit's skin. But you can only do this with healthy and totally undamaged grapes, grapes as those we've vintaged today.

At the same time the casks are being arranged and controlled down there at the cellar, because this Sauvignon is riping in the new little woods.

October 19th-21st, 2006
Riesling Strassertal

A wonderful autumn goes along with us down to the lower terraces of little Stangl, where we are vintaging for Riesling Strassertal.
Cold and dry weather every morning with temperatures about 0 degrees.




During snack breakfast at 9 a.m. sun is gaining strength against this coldness.
Now we are drinking hot tea instead of some grape juice.
We all are beeing influenced by this wonderful autumn… and so is our mood.



Maximilian would evaluate vintaging even higher than school.

Now, even saturdays and sundays are spent to carry the grapes down to the cellars during this nice weather conditions.

October 16th, 2006
Gruener Veltliner Wechselberg

It's monday and the vintage of Gruener Veltliner Wechselberg has just begun.
It's pure pleasure to be the one vintaging such evenly ripe and healthy grapes.
Reaping the vineyards of mount Wechselberg can be done uninterrupted in one turn this year.



The grapes gradation lies at 19 degrees Klosterneuburger Mostwaage.
They are carried to the cellar right after gathering where they got proceeded very softly instantly.

October 12th, 2006
New casks!

Today our Barrique´s and casks of big volume had been delivered from France. Wood for these barrels comes from the Allier region. Their toasting is medium plus.
They'll do very well for our Chardonnay and Sauvignon (estimated time of vintaging is late october).


This year we are going to proceed the wines in new and bigger wooden casks for the first time.
600 lt, that's their volumetric capacity.So they are the biggest casks with fissile woods- extremely important, because it would be a pity to use cut woods for casks of this high quality.

October 9th, 2006
Zweigelt Strassertal

Today we started vintaging for Zweigelt Strassertal - pure delight.
The very ripe grapes with 19 degrees Klosterneuburger are shimmering through the greenery in the sun. The leaves are still acitve. Very important for the vines, cause that's essential for the wood beeing able to do the final ripe after vintage and prepared for winter.

October 8th, 2006
Green, Gruener Veltliner Strassertal

The first week of oktober, under gorgeous weather conditions, we were able to get all the vines for our Green and Gruenen Veltliner Strassertal into the cellar.






Ripeness of Gruener Veltliner is at perfect conditions now, gradation in between 17,5 - 18 degrees Klosterneuburger Mostwaage.
The grapes had been proceeded all at once, to bring out the finesse of this wines even more.

October 5th, 2006
Gelber Muskateller

Thursday we did the first time vintage of the location named Sental, it's for the Gelber Muskateller.
A vine variety which was already favored very much at my grandfather's time (Johann Topf 1st). The whole day flavor of Gelber Muskateller seemed to fill every corner of our processing building.


The grapes got to our processing building, had been squeezed softly and fermented surrounded by its own juice without beeing influenced by oxygen. That's the way how to leach out intencity of the fruit's skin. This Gelber Muskateller with a gradation of 18 degrees Klosterneuburger is enormously auspicious.

October 4th, 2006
Sauvignon Strassertal

On wednesday the vintage for our Sauvignon Strassertal was done in the location Gaisberg - the grapes are in very ripe and healthy conditions.






Even throughout the sensory sampling of the berries everyone's easyly able to forebode its distinctive aroma. This Suvignon with its 18 degrees Klosterneuburger is fermenting in steel tanks, so that its softly grassy stylistic keeps beeing obtained.

September 29th, 2006
Red grapes - white wine?

Today we started the vintage of Zweigelt at Hasel for our so called "Weißen" - white wine made of red grapes.

For such specials the grapes have to be vintaged very carefully. That's important because the berry's skin - which is consisting the red pigments - must not been bruised.

The cooled grapes are brought to the squeezing machine where they are processed gently and instantly.
The outcome will be an impressive, very aromatic flavoured white wine afflicted with taste of delicate tannins.

Sugar-gradation lies at 18 degrees Klosterneuburger-Mostwaage.
Approximately that will lead to a natural alcohol level of about 12%.
This wine will suit easy dishes perfectly, no matter whether it serves as an appetizer or for the main course, it will serve...as from mid november.

September 25th, 2006
It's summer ... at autumn!

After a very hot summer with temperatures higher than thirty degrees, an unusual cold august with much rainfall, there followed an ingenious september; indian summer!

Changing temperatures in this certain order were perfect for our vines. Vegetation wasn't as good as it could be until bloom but high temperatures during July, a wet weather august and this still wonderful autumn, made our vines not only regaining their lost energy but even more.

You can easily see pleasant anticipation written to our faces caused by the very good expectations we've got this year.

Traditionally we started with the location Blickenweg today.
There will be 12 people doing the vintage a couple of days from now on.
The grapes will be processed right after gathering and further on fermented slowly down at the cool cellar.
Must, made out of this mixture (Riesling, Weißburgunder, Chardonnay), lies at 17,5 degrees Klosterneuburger-Mostwaage.

June 21st, 2006
Summer!

The wine blossom has proceeded very quickly due to perfect weather. The backlog of vegetation is already made up.
Summer with its wonderful temperatures does so good to our vineyards and now the wet weather of earlier months helps a lot.

The work to do at the vineyard hasn't got less. Now romoving of the miserliness shoots is to be done.
The vines have to be tied up to the wired frames very carefully. That's the only way leading to a perfect and healthy wall of leaves, which on its part is essential for really big wines.


The cellar gets more and more emptied as well. "Weißburgunder Stangel", "Sauvignon Hasel" and "Gruener Veltliner Hans Topf" were bottled in July.
From now on they are available at our winery.

summervines

May 19th, 2006
wine tasting „Liquid History“

The history of 20 years Chardonnay Hasel touched our guests last friday.
Here some tasteful impressions of the event in its fitting ambiance:
Liquid History

May 8th, 2006
cellaractivity calms down

The white wines of 2005 are already bottled, except Chardonnay, Gruener Veltliner Hans Topf and Gruener Veltliner alte Reben.
The red ones, like Blau Burgunder and Grant are still proceeding in wooden casks.

hard work!

Now the time of most intensive work has come. At the moment we are weeding in the older vineyards.




At the same time we care about our one and two years old vines - one of the most delicate issus for a vintager - the next 10 years of their growth will depend on the decisions made by now. One sprout will be broken out and tied to its aiding stick.



To support our vines additionally, we are deploying our selfcomposted manure at the soil.

bye bye frost

The winter has gone without leaving any bigger signs of its bad frosty influence behind. Our vines are already adjusted for the warm time of the year.
They could gather enough water during winter and spring to develop without any stress.

April 10th, 2006
A new vineyard

A huge task was finalized in march: Our new vineyard on the Wechselberg. We bought some area there and cultivated the terrasses carefully.



In a few years a new top vineyard will be available with a lot of minerals in the soil - the best condition for the best Gruener Veltliner.





On the terrasses clover will be planted to allow the humus to grow. In 2009 the first vines will be set out.

Spring in the vineyards

After a long winter finally spring has come into the Kamptal. All our helping hands spend their times in the vineyards to fix the vines in the wireframes.

January 20th, 2006
Cutting work

Cutting the vines is going on very quickly this year: we have already cut half of our whole vine area.
In the cellars we are working hard either. The wines which were proceeded in wood, like our "Chardonnay Hasel", "Sauvignon Hasel" and "Gruener Veltliner Alte Reben", have finished their acid-reduction.

Frosty new year

But as the old saying of winegrowers goes, "Cold winters are followed by hot summers", the summer 2006 will bring us many sunny days.
In January temperature went down to minus 20 degrees Celsius. That is already pretty dangerous for our vines. God bless the vineyards were covered with snow before the drop in temperature, and the winter has come really slowly this time, so that the vines are still in hibernation.