We cultivate a piece of Winninger Hamm where vines from 1971 grow. The slope is not entirely easy, as it is very barren and very dry in some places. The old vines root deep and yield little. But in return, the quality is top-notch.
In an extremely dry year like this one, however, even the old vines have a very hard time. We had some loss in the canopy and are looking forward to the harvest with mixed feelings. The grapes look good, the rain of the last few days was naturally too late, but it doesn't seem to endanger the grapes so far.
Besides the stress that "the old ones" had, all our new plantings died during the hot summer months. 160 young vines, Wiltinger and Saarfeilser from the stock of the unfortunately no longer existing vine nursery of Nik Weis. We had deliberately chosen the vigorously growing rootstock Richter 110. Until May everything looked very good, all seedlings sprouted properly.
Then came June and July and with it game over. Unfortunately, we did not have the possibility to irrigate on the steep slope. And this will not change in the future either. So we think differently: We are considering covering parts of the slope with straw. We are thinking about historical varieties that might cope better with the new climate conditions. We are thinking about even more yield-reducing pruning.
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