The waiting game cost nerves. We are all looking forward to the ritual final meal of the harvest. Muskateller and some remaining Riesling and corners of Grüner Veltliner are still in the vineyards as we hope for ice wine.

Once the grapes are frozen the harvest is conducted extremely quickly, as it is the frost, not the harvester, who makes the final selection.

As soon as the darkness has lifted, the grapes are brought into the winery.

This harvest is five to ten times faster than a normal one. During the last few weeks, we have looked at every individual bunch from all sides to cut out the undesirable parts.

The frost now takes over this time-consuming selection. In the perishing cold out in the vineyards the harvesters also work faster to remain warm, as everyone is looking forward to a cup of hot tea after sunrise.

During the last week, the Grüner Veltliner grapes on our Lamm and Käferberg vineyards were a great joy to us: they were perfectly healthy and had a ravishing taste of marzipan.

The first wine to be filled will be the lightest Grüner Veltliner – Grüner Veltliner L+T – and we have already submitted it to the official board of certification.

The wine is now resting in steel tanks, 99% of the lees have already sedimented out. Different wines are bubbling and murmuring in our cellars, a chamber orchestra of wood and stainless steel.