Harvest

Hand harvest

95 per cent of our grapes are picked by hand, across 25 hectares. With shears and buckets, vine by vine. In September and October each year, depending on variety and ripeness. A harvest team of between eight and fourteen people, most of whom have been with us for years. We start at dawn, because the grapes are cool then and don't oxidise on arrival at the cellar.

Selection at the harvest trailer

A first triage happens right in the vineyard: diseased berries out, poor bunches out, anything that shouldn't go into the wine stays on the ground. Better two buckets less in the trailer than two doubtful berries in the tank. For thin-skinned varieties — Muskateller, Gemischter Satz — the selection is strictest.

Cooling and processing

Within two hours of picking, the grapes are in the cellar. Cold room at 8 °C, grapes cooled down overnight, processed the next day. This cooling phase is the difference between an aromatic wine and a flat one. It doesn't take much technical effort, just the discipline not to tip warm grapes into the tank.