Looking into the vineyard

Defoliation of Grapes – But Beware of Sunburn

Not only humans need protection from UV rays – our grapes in the vineyards can also get sunburn. Once the berries start to soften, there's a risk that too much sunlight will cause their skin to crack, dry out, and turn blue or brown. Since grapes can’t use sunscreen, winegrowers must take viticultural precautions. As strange as it may sound, early defoliation of the grapes right after flowering is the best way to harden the berry skins. However, on hot summer days, defoliating or thinning out the canopy should be avoided to prevent…

May 2025

Green Returns to the Vineyards

The first fresh green is always something very special in the vineyards. It marks the beginning of the new vintage in a way that’s visible to everyone and bathes the Rheinhessen vineyard hills in a completely different play of colors. Particularly noticeable now are the many unpruned vineyards, which already boast a full, lush green canopy. Despite the dryness of the past few weeks, the shoots are growing well — even in places where winegrowers would rather not see them: on the vine trunks. These unwanted shoots are currently being removed,…

Now It's Planting Time for Vines

The topsoil has dried out well, and there’s still enough moisture below – ideal conditions for planting vines. However, anyone picturing a winemaker with a spade in hand will be completely disillusioned. Nowadays, the job is done by a GPS-controlled planting machine that places the vines at exactly the right spot, 30 centimeters deep into the soil – and even inserts the planting stick at the same time. All that’s missing now are the posts, which in the past had to be laboriously hammered into the ground by hand. You can probably already…

January 2025

Ice wine harvest in the past week

After it was already freezing cold during the night from January 12th to 13th, the required minus 7°C were reached the following night in Rheinhessen to harvest the frozen grapes. A total of 6 wineries in Rheinhessen were able to harvest Silvaner, Chardonnay, and Souvignier Gris grapes with at least 130 degrees Oechsle. In the context of climate change, with milder winters and increasingly earlier grape ripening, it is becoming more difficult to keep the grapes healthy until the first major frosts. The press runs for hours here, and the…