That’s a Wrap: Harvest 2025 from Kremstal
I wanted to send this newsletter out several weeks ago to tell you all about the harvest. But I didn’t. I couldn’t, because the harvest only finished on 28 September. Once again Mother Nature had other plans.
I keep forgetting the role of patience in viticulture. Last year we harvested in early September with enough sugar in the grapes to produce a wine with 13-13.5% alcohol. This year if we picked at the same time, the grapes would only produce a wine with 9-10% alcohol, barely qualifying as “wine” in the E.U. — the legal minimum is 8.5%.
The late timing of the harvest caused multiple unforeseen challenges. My family came from New York from 8-18 September to help, 10 days too early. Thankfully, they did experience a harvest helping out my friends at Weingut Feldtheorie. My cousin even had the chance to do a little old-fashion foot pressing on the Zweigelt (Austrian red grape variety).
The other challenge was my Weinzierlberg Riesling, the 1/3 ha vineyard I rented this year. I had hoped to produce some 500 liters from this vineyard, but with the later date and several days of rain, many clusters succumbed to botrytis, a fungus, which can be used to make wine, but it doesn’t fit my style. So instead of 500 liters I have to settle for about 100.
Harvest 2025
Okay, enough negativity.
The wonderful news is that we have tons of Chenin Blanc! Okay, maybe not tons, but when you carry 54 kg (120 lbs) down a steep slope if feels like a ton.
Last year I only had 5 kg (11 lbs) of Chenin, so this is great progress considering the vines are only three years old. Which means, insert drumroll…finally, my Grüner Veltliner/Chenin Blanc blend will have more Chenin than Grüner, which is a nice milestone. I’m curious to see the impact on taste and aroma. Both are now in an amphora and hopefully fermentation will begin in the next 24-72 hours. Special thanks to Marie-Helene for help with the harvest.
The 2025 vintage lineup, hopefully, also includes an orange wine made from Weinzierlberg Riesling and the Swiss varietal Müller Thurgau and, I’m adding a third wine, made from 100% Riesling from Weinzierlberg and the small Riesling plot I have in Kremsleithen. I say hopefully because the orange wine is a bit slow to ferment at the moment, hopefully it will start soon.
We got Chenin! This is an 80 liter pneumatic press. A balloon inside the cylinder inflates with air and crushes the grapes along the sides where it seeps out the holes into the bucket below.
2024 Vintage Bottled, Waxed and Labelled
Thanks to my mom, the 2024 vintage bottles have been waxed and all of the labels have been stamped, which means they are ready to drink soon. If you signed up for the allocation I will send a payment link in November with shipping to follow in early December.
I am still trying to secure a shipping partner for the USA. Currently, I can only ship in New York. For those of you outside of New York I will keep you posted. European orders are no problem.
If anyone still wants to order, I have about 10 bottles remaining of each, just click below to sign up - no credit card needed.
Introducing the 2024 Kapitel Zwei Vintage: No Alibi and Dilemma.
Prost!
Chris
