“Good yields and great qualities” – the vintage in Germany is surprisingly good this year. Although it hardly rains in summer, the yields are higher than the average for the past ten years. One type of wine even benefits from the sun in particular.
The harvest in Germany turned out better than expected given the very dry summer. According to the German Wine Institute (DWI) in Bodenheim, the harvest is expected to be around nine million hectoliters, two percent more than the average for the past ten years. The quality was therefore very good, especially for red wines.
According to the DWI, the precipitation in September had a positive effect: “They made the ripe grapes plump again after the extremely dry summer”. The result is “good yields and great qualities”. Compared to the previous year, the harvest volume even increased by six percent.
However, the September precipitation also had a negative effect on late-ripening grape varieties such as Riesling: the sugar content in the grapes “remained moderate despite the very sunny summer,” explained the DIW. The wines are leaner than in previous years, but still “highly aromatic and with harmonious fruit acid levels”. The quality of the other white wine varieties, especially Burgundy and Silvaner, is also very good.
According to the DWI, winegrowers and consumers can be particularly pleased about the quality of this year’s red wines. “The red grapes benefited the most from the sunniest summer on record,” the institute said.
The increase in harvest volume was particularly strong at 23 percent in the Saale-Unstrut region. The DIW also expects yields on the Ahr and in Baden to be 13 percent higher than the ten-year average. The Mosel winegrowers, on the other hand, had to make significant cuts, where the harvest was seven percent less due to the weather.
