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The cold snap over the weekend, particularly in southern Germany and Austria, made it possible for some wineries to harvest frozen grapes to make ice wine. In Burgenland, the best conditions prevailed in all wine-growing regions on Monday night, with temperatures ranging from minus nine to minus eleven degrees Celsius. The grapes had a must weight of around 31° KMW (equivalent to around 154 Oechlse). Ice wine was also harvested in Lower Austria and Styria.
In Germany, a few frozen grapes were harvested in Franconia and Baden-Württemberg. However, only a few German winegrowers relied on ice wine in 2023: In the six growing regions of the federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate - Ahr, Middle Rhine, Moselle, Nahe, Palatinate and Rheinhessen - with around 65,000 hectares of cultivated land, for example, only 32 hectares were registered for ice wine. According to the Rhineland-Palatinate Chamber of Agriculture, many winegrowers were not convinced that they would be able to produce healthy grapes after the difficult weather conditions in autumn and the unfavourable weather forecast.
(al / Source: Der Winzer, Weingut Franz Türk, lwk-rlp)