2018

After warm and dry January and February, first of March came as the coldest day in the year with minus 15 degrees. Spring arrived with strong foehn wind and temperatures above 20 degrees. Vegetation growth was two weeks ahead compared to the last year. By the end of April, the temperature exceeds 30 degrees and the growth of the vine accelerate. The temperatures stayed high through the whole flowering in May resulting rapid development of the plant that put us behind on many vineyard operations.
First months of summer were dry with occasional thunderstorms causing large differences in local water supply. June and July were warm and dry with higher air

humidity followed by hot August. In the middle of August, a cold front encouraged ripening period and as planned, harvest started earlier, on 20th August. The varieties with thin skin like Sankt Laurent and Pinot Noir needed to be picked first to avoid prolonged ripening on the vine and higher concentration of raisins. During the August the heat was unbearable so we were harvesting only in the morning to avoid pressing hot grapes. The cooling system on fermentation tanks was crucial to preserve fruitiness and freshness of our grapes. By the mid-September harvest was finished as early as never before.