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| Peronospora - a difficult year |
High humidity has caused the growth of peronospora (mildew) on leaves and parts of the grapes in almost all vineyards in Austria.
Producers seeking to limit the use of chemicals speak about “damage thresholds” which have to be accepted of one wants to do without too much spraying.
For the 2008 harvest this will probably result in a very labour-intensive hand selection of healthy grapes during harvest.
2008 is likely to be a year with very different qualities. Only the most careful selection can produce truly fine wines.
Our vineyards look almost wild at the moment, because we have left the vegetation between the rows of vines. Our aim is to draw excess moisture from the soil after the recent rains.
For long-term soil fertility the humus that is being created in this way and the root material are pure gold! The earth worms will have a banquet during the coming months.
A wish for the weather gods: ten or twenty percent of the berries fall victim to peronospora, followed by a period of warm, dry weather, allowing the diseased berries to shrink and drop to the ground, thus leaving the healthy berries to mature perfectly into September.
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