All the wine related work I currently have to do is checking every single barrel/tank at least once a week. You want to ensure that the yeast is in shape, that the wood doesn’t do anything but provide an awesome bin and that the micro bacteria don’t go crazy. There is also a little bit of stirring involved to keep the yeast working. I discovered this ancient stirring chain which is a bit cumbersome to use but working well besides.
And yes, it’s still looking pretty good down there in the dungeon. It’s always the same stuff I’m scared off: volatile acid, the smell of H2S and anything fusty/moldy caused by old wood. I had to remove a few wines from their barrel or the yeast in the last weeks to prevent any permanent faults. And the lesson learned was: taste the wine, taste the yeast and taste it often. Nothing bad happened (so far), thank god. This vintage is one to look forward to.
It’s been a crazy year. Caterpillar attacks in May, an extremely dry summer (June to August) lowering yields and now a December so warm I’ve counted 4 different blossoming plants in the vineyards. After two years of small quantities and many experiments we’ve put a good 20k liters of wine in tanks & barrels this fall. That’s 15 times more than last year. And yes, it was scary.
Half of the wine will get a small amount of SO2 before bottling and go through the filter. This is going to become a new portfolio with its own name & labels. We’ll tell you a bit more about that when it’s ready. The other half will remain completely raw, no compromises for the 2Naturkinder stuff. The first semi carbonic red (outcome of our bat project) will be bottled in February, the rest will follow after we built up our new bottling machine in April.
We were also thrilled to work with a couple of new importers. Our wines will soon be available in Australia, the U.S., the Netherlands and France. This is really, really cool. We’d like to thank all of you for believing in us. It’s a pleasure and an incredible motivation to produce wine making you smile. Next year will become at least as exciting as 2015 was. We’re very much looking forward to have a glass with you – at our winery, a fair, wherever we’ll meet.
A happy new year to all of you. Cheers!