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The German organic wineries had to deal with weather extremes, diseases, a nerve-racking "yoyo summer" and a "turbo autumn" with a high selection effort during the harvest for the 2023 vintage that has now been brought in. This is reported by the organic winegrowers' association Ecovin. The harvests were below average, but with careful selection they were able to achieve top quality.
According to Ecovin, the vines of the organic wineries started the growing season with a fairly good water supply, although in the warm and humid month of May there were already infections with downy mildew (peronospora) in many regions before flowering. With the heavy rainfall from the end of July, powdery mildew (Oidium) and grey mould (Botrytis) became a challenge for many wineries. In some red wine regions, the cherry vinegar fly (KEF) also caused high losses from the end of August. Parts of Baden, Franconia and Rheinhessen were also hit by heavy hailstorms.
The main grape harvest began almost everywhere at the beginning of September and, with plenty of sunshine, lasted until around mid-October. Although sugar levels benefited greatly from the sunny September, vinegar rot and botrytis spread rapidly. Careful selection was "mandatory for all wineries". Often, harvesting had to be done at night or in the early hours of the morning in order to process the grapes as cool as possible and to preserve the aromas.
According to Ecovin, fungus-resistant grape varieties, on the other hand, "were once again unimpressed by fungi, were able to hang on the vine for a long time and were brought into the cellars in perfect ripeness.
(uka / Source: Ecovin)