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2w ago

Early Harvest Begins in German Wine Regions as Heat and Drought Cut Yields

Winemakers now expect intensely concentrated, aromatic wines from smaller grapes that may tighten supply and raise prices.

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In der zweiten Augustwoche hat in den deutschen Weinanbaugebieten die Lese begonnen. Die Traubenernte beginnt damit außergewöhnlich früh - rund eine Woche früher als im Schnitt der letzten fünf Jahre, wie das Deutsche Weininstitut (DWI) mitteilte.
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Overview

  • The grape harvest started unusually early in the second week of August as German growers moved to pick before further heat damage set in.
  • The ongoing heatwaves and dry soils are reducing volumes across central Europe, with younger vines and plots on light soil hit hardest and many sites having grapes thinned to ease vine stress.
  • Lower Austria’s wine association has reported visible vine stress and estimated roughly a 20 percent drop in yields there, and growers warned individual berries can suffer sunburn when temperatures climb above about 40°C.
  • Experts say the drought is producing smaller, less juicy berries that raise the skin-to-juice ratio and yield very concentrated, aromatic musts if picked at the right time.
  • The pattern illustrates climate-driven year-to-year swings for growers and could narrow supply and push prices higher while accelerating interest in adaptation measures such as shading, different rootstocks and water-storage systems.