Along the Ahr river at the beginning mid-September, some early-ripening varieties of white wine grapes were harvested for the production of ‘Federweissen’ (wine in process of fermenting); the main harvesting, however, didn’t begin until the last week of September and lasted 3 weeks. The harvest – entirely hand-picked – is of good quality with a high degree of sugar-free extract. Expectations regarding Ahr wine are that of a harmonious wine in the quality segment. Two-thirds of the vineyards have been planted with Pinot Noir and reached good quality values of between 70 and 150 degrees Oechsle. Surprisingly high mustweight was reached by the ‘Portugieser’. Reduced yield was the result of hail storms in the area of Dernau. Altogether, the yield is expected to be quite meagre as per the previous year and approximately a quarter less than the long-term average. That would mean only 33,000 hectolitres. Despite the repeated low harvest, it is not expected that the Ahr wines will be sold at a higher price since they are already in the upper price segments.

In Baden, the main harvesting of grapes began in the second week of September and was already completed by mid October, with the exception of Lake Constance areas and the Riesling grapes in Ortenau. In particular, the Müller-Thurgau grapes had to be harvested quickly in order to insure healthy grapes. The vintage quality is seen to be good to very good. Müller-Thurgau achieved an average 80 degrees Oechsle; the Pinots, 90 to 100 degrees. The vineyards are spread over a vast area from the north to south covering over 400 kilometres, so there is by nature a relatively large regional diversification.

Due to cool nights, the vintage is characterised by freshness, fruitiness and brilliance rather than strength, alcohol, and extract sweetness. The 2010 vintage is being compared to that of 1995. The yields of Pinot Gris and Riesling grapes were quite disappointing. Altogether, the quantity of this autumn is considerably less than average. With a yield per hectare of 60 hectoliters, it will only be possible to bottle 0.9 million hectoliters, the smallest amount since 1985.

In the Baden wine-growing cooperatives, talk is of a high-quality vintage with an extremely low yield. A noticeable shortage of white wine can be expected. The cooperatives figure on a harvest of merely 70 million litres, one-third less than in normal years. Already in 2009 the yield was smaller than usual. For Müller-Thurgau, the harvest yield of the cooperatives is up to 40% less than the previous year; for Pinot Gris, only 50 litres per ‘Ar’ (100 Ar = 1 hectare) and the Ortenauer Riesling yield was also very small. The only winegrowers expecting a substantial harvest – although less than average – are those at Lake Constance; last year they experienced huge losses due to hail damage.

A year of extremes with hard winter frosts, problems with the flowering of the grapes, dry spells and heat in June and wet weather in August characterise the vintage 2010 in Franken. Early-ripening grapes such as Müller-Thurgau could be expeditiously harvested by mid-September and the complete harvest was over four weeks later with Silvaner, Pinots and Riesling. The harvest was characterised by strict selection. On the whole, the late-ripening grapes were healthier than the early-ripening varieties.

Due to the blooming problems, the Riesling grapes had only a minimal yield of 40 hectolitres per hectare. All varieties taken together achieved only 58 hectolitres per hectare, one-fourth less than the previous year. Thus the entire yield of Franken is only approximately 320,000 hectoliters. The mustweight of all the important varieties of grapes is on average 80 degrees Oechsle and more; the Riesling grape reached almost 90 degrees Oechsle. Two-thirds of the harvest can be classified as high-quality (predicated) wine. The white wines tend to be better than the red wines. Delivery bottle-necks can be expected on orders for Müller-Thurgau wines. All in all, a slight price increase can be expected.

In the smallest German wine-growing region, Hessische Bergstrasse, the vintners began the harvesting of the early-ripening grapes on 10 September. As regards the high acidity detected, the harvesting of the Riesling was postponed as long as possible; it was begun on 7 October. The mustweight of the Riesling and the Pinot noir thus had a chance to improve considerably and were without exception able reach late vintage standards. The first young wines show a convincing quality – fruity Müller-Thurgau, full-bodied Riesling, strong and full-bodied Pinot noirs. The acidity of the vintage is consistently present. The volume of the harvest is disappointing: in comparison to normal years, the yield was often only half of earlier harvests. Thus the vintage 2010 will likely reach no more than 20,000 hectolitres and thus be 35% less than the previous year. As stocks from earlier years are low, there will definitely be bottle-necks in deliveries. A price increase is inevitable.

Due to the inclement weather, the vintners of the Middle Rhine began the harvest quite early at the end of September and it lasted a month altogether. The picking is performed by hand on the steep slopes. Often it was necessary to operate with two containers for the grapes – one for the healthy grapes, one for the grapes infected with Botrytis. Large losses of yield were experienced in particular in the vineyards near Bacharach and Boppard. In the Bacharach area, hailstorms resulted in one-fourth of the vineyards being more or less severely damaged, whereby considering the entire area, the severity of destruction varied greatly from vineyard to vineyard. For the most part, the grapes reached a very high mustweight; 100 degrees Oechsle were not rare and for the Rieslings, in some cases the degree of Oechsle went up as high as 140. Eighty percent of the harvest was bottled as high-quality predicate wine. The quantity of the yield, nevertheless, did not meet expectations, and is even lower than those of the previous year. Approximately 50 hectolitres per hectare were realised, or 23,000 hectoliters compared to 28,000 hectolitres in the previous year. Stylistically, this year’s Middle Rhine vintage is characterised by a fresh and fruity acidity. The wine is very fruity and very clearly structured. The Pinot Blanc is of excellent quality considering the situation. After the low volume bottled last year, the Middle Rhine vintners have hardly any stock on hand so that it will not be possible to fill all orders. The prices on the bulk wine market are already climbing. The retailers of bottled wine will also be increasing prices moderately.

Some vintners on the Mosel, Saar and Ruwer rivers suffered losses of up to 50% this year. In general, a smaller yield of around 30% in comparison to a normal harvest is being reckoned with – that would be approximately 675,000 hectolitres. Last year’s wine production was relatively small at 800,000 hectoliters. On the other hand, the winegrowers are extremely satisfied with the quality. Mustweights of 100 degrees Oechsle and even more in the most important variety of grapes – Riesling – were not seldom. Even the Riesling Trockenbeerauslese (sweet dessert wine) was harvested at nearly 200 degrees Oechsle. In addition to fresh-fruity wines, this vintage has numerous noble sweet wine specialties.

The inclement weather conditions affecting the grape vines this year presented the vintners and cellarers of the Mosel this autumn with enormous challenges. A late frost caused frost damage to some varieties of grapes, whereby the early blooming vines suffered more than the late blooming ones. The volatile weather situation – differing from area to area – throughout the summer months led to very different ripening development. “In the past we had not experienced such stark fluctuations,” was to be heard from the winegrowers cooperative. Whereas the Middle Mosel and Obermosel happily harvested satisfactory amounts, downstream from Bernkastel and at the Terrassenmosel, the yields were quite disappointing. Less than half of last year’s yield was reported by many wineries. According to the grape type, Riesling, Pinot Blanc and Pinot Noir – 70 hectolitres per hectare, Kerner and Müller-Thurgau approximately 80 hectolitres per hectare, Dornfelder 90 hectolitres per hectare and Elbling 100 hectolitres per hectare. The selective picking of grapes and the sorting of the harvest were a special challenge this year. Those wineries producing quality wines often performed several selective harvestings in the same vineyards. After the small return and the market rebound on bulk wine exports, the prices have increased appreciably.

The harvesting in the Nahe valley began on 20 September and the last vineyard was harvested this year in the second half of October. The mustweights are slightly lower than in the previous year but nevertheless quite high. The Portugieser achieved an average of 70 degrees, Müller-Thurgau almost 80 degrees, and Dornfelder, Pinot noir and Riesling around 85 degrees Oechsle. Accordingly the Nahe wines of this vintage will have slightly less alcohol than in recent years. The premium wine segment consists of a good fourth; 50% of the Riesling musts can marketed as premium wine. Quite acceptable yields and good mustweights were found predominantly among the Dornfelder and the Pinot varieties. A characteristic of the vintage in all types of wines is the fresh fruit acidity. Selective sorting together with proclivity for a poor fruit set at the time of the flowering of the grape led to a relatively small average yield. At 65 hectoliters per hectare, it is 25% less than the normal yield; the entire area produced 265,000 hectoliters. The bulk wine price for Riesling and Dornfelder has increased moderately. In retail sales, the stocks of some wines are low, leading to a slight increase in price.

In the second half of August, the first Federweisser vintage 2010 wines became available. The main grape gathering began rather turbulently at the beginning of September and ended quietly mid October. The reason was the change of weather during the harvest when the longed-for sunny autumn days and cool nights finally arrived to everyone’s relief. Thus the healthy condition of the grapes remained stable. The late-ripening varieties such as Riesling, Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris had the opportunity to profit from the autumn sun and develop a fruity aroma.

The 2010 vintage of the Pfalz presented itself without exception with mustweights in the quality and special quality segments, and were only very slightly lower than the average of many past years. There were even top mustweights of over 250 degrees Oechsle. The majority, though, were lively, sparkling and fresh white wines. According to the experts, they will not be characterised by strength and rich concentration but rather by freshness, fruitiness, and brilliance. The alcohol content is expected to be 12%. The red wines are less powerful. Thus the 2010 is a substantial vintage such as was the norm in the 80s and 90s in the Palatinate. The 2010 harvest quantity is disappointing. The entire harvest barely reached 1.65 million hectoliters, whereas in the last 10 years the yield averaged 2.4 million hectoliters. This means diminished returns of 30% and the smallest harvest since the mid 80s. Even more serious crop failures occurred in the south of the Pfalz due to hailstorms and in the northern regions of the Mittelhaardt. Additionally due to the cool weather conditions at the time of blossoming, there was a starkly reduced fruit set. The extremely small yield has already resulted in a price increase of bulk wine. Nevertheless, this will in no way compensate for the reduced harvest according to the vintner and farmer cooperatives. Direct marketers are planning on a moderate price increase. Maintaining the market share of wines from the Palatinate in the next 12 months will be a huge challenge, according to the organisation.

The harvesting of Riesling grapes began on 6 October. By 20 October, more than 95% of the vineyards had been harvested. Most notably the Riesling which evinced merely 70 to 80 degrees Oechsle in the first days of picking profited from the sunny and dry weather at the end of September and early October, by ripening to, for the most part, between 80 and 95 degrees Oechsle. Here and there Beerenauslesen and Trockenbeerenauslesen were harvested. For Pinot Noir according to the estimates of the Viticulture Office in Eltville, the share of rosé wines will be relatively high. Due to the mustweight, two thirds of the vintage 2010 Rheingau wines can be classified as Prädikatswein. The characteristics of the 2010 wines are similar to those of the vintages 2001 and 2004, although the acidity this year is a bit higher. The average yield is between 55 hectolitres per hectare and thus similar to the low-yield levels of 1995 and 1984. The long-term average is 80 hectolitres per hectare. The entire yield is estimated at 170,000 hectolitres. A poor fruit set during the flowering of the grapes and the wet weather in August caused the diminished yield. Moreover, the grapes became concentrated through the dry weather experienced at the beginning of October. This allowed the mustweight to increase, but of course the yield was thereby reduced. The low yield will result in the already rising prices for Riesling bulk wine to increase even more. For bottled wines, a price increase of 5% is expected.

After a full year of unpredictable weather in Rheinhessen, the early-ripening and middle to late ripening types of grapes suffered the most from the damp and cool August weather, whereas the Riesling and Pinot noir grapes profited from the golden October weather. The early Müller-Thurgau grapes were picked beginning mid September with yields of less than 80 hectoliters per hectare and mustweights of around 70 degrees Oechsle. The Portugieser, Dornfelder and Silvaner resulted in a disappointing yield of around 70 litres per hectare due to selective harvesting. It must be noted that in northern Rheinhessen in the area of Bingen, the yields were considerably better than in the southerly Wonnegau region by Worms where hailstorms caused damage. Quite respectable qualities were achieved in those vineyards where the grape zone was picked by hand. The Pinot varieties, the Silvaner, and in particular the Riesling profited from this. At 100 degrees Oechsle, the grapes from those vineyards achieved good values. The first wines already fermented are presenting themselves quite positively with the typical aromas and inviting fruity acidity. Considering the amounts for 2010, the old winegrowers’ saying applies: “If you think the yield will be small, you can count on it being even smaller.” The predicted harvest quantity of 2 million hectolitres will probably not be attained. In comparison to the long term average of 2.6 million hectolitres, this will be a reduction of 23%. The reduced harvest is occurring at a very inconvenient time, considering the recent positive growth of the export sector and a stabilising local market for Rheinhessen wines.

In the most northerly German quality-winegrowing area, due to the severe and long winterly weather and extensive damage due to frost, hopes for a good harvest were dashed very early. And this, in spite of the fact that the chances for a good harvest were initially quite strong because in contrast to most wine-growing areas, in the Saale and Unstrut there was not the problem of the poor fruit set at the time of flowering. The east German vintners suffered heavy rainfall in August. The week-long harvesting through the end of September was characterised by cold and rainy weather. Only at the start of October did the weather turn ‘golden’. And then in the second week of October the first night frosts occurred. As a result of the damage due to the aforementioned frost, this year’s yield was once again very small. It must be said that the yield per hectare did increase from 37 to 45 hectolitres. Altogether, the predictions of the Ministry of Agriculture are for a yield of 3.1 million litres. This year’s vintage is characterised by light and lively wines.

After an extremely small yield in the previous year, the vintners of Sachsen were once again able to gather only very few grapes. In this year there was no damage due to frost, but hailstorms did their worst south of Meissen. The ripe grapes were badly affected by the inclement weather and had to be harvested as quickly as possible. In many locations, a second picking was conducted. The mustweight of the Müller-Thurgau was on average 70 degrees Oechsle, of the Riesling 80 degrees Oechsle, and the Pinot Blanc and Pinot Noir on average 85 degrees. The best results were those of the Traminer at 90 degrees Oechsle. As late as July, there were still hopes of a yield of normal quantity. The wet August dashed these hopes. Hardly more than 25 hectolitres per hectare were the results – and that means for the entire wine-growing area approximately 11,500 hectolitres. Thus in the coming year, wine from Saxony will retain its status as a rarity.

The most important grapes grown in Württemberg are Lemberger, Trollinger and Riesling, which are all late-ripening grapes. Thus the main harvesting took place in the first three weeks of October. 2010 vintage in Württemberg is of a high quality and in some grape types exceeds last year’s quality. Unfortunately, the quantity is the lowest of the last 25 years. In the case of the white wines, there will be a palpable reduction of supply. The red wine supply can be compensated by means of stocks on hand from previous years. Overall, the yield will be only 800,000 hectolitres, one-third less than the average of the last 10 years (1.2 million hectolitres). Price increases, in particular for white wines, appear unavoidable. Special quality wines will account for 40% according to estimates of the Association of Winegrowers. The Württemberger vintners’ cooperatives registered a low yield of 62.5 million litres, which is around 30% under the long-term average. Vintage 2010 in Württemberg is characterised by a fresh acidity and minerality. There will be many special quality wines among the Rieslings. Vintage 2010 red wines are expected to be rich, with good body and especially delightful. Lemberger and Trollinger are of exceedingly good quality.

Winegrowing Area	Estimated Yield 20	Variance to 2009
Ahr	33.000 hl	+/-0 %
Baden	900.000 hl	-25 %
Franken	320.000 hl	-29 %
Hess. Bergstraße	20.000 hl	-35 %
Mittelrhein	23.000 hl	-19 %
Mosel	675.000 hl	-17 %
Nahe	265.000 hl	-15 %
Pfalz	1.650.000 hl	-30 %
Rheingau	170.000 hl	-21 %
Rheinhessen	2.000.000 hl	-22 %
Saale-Unstrut	31.000 hl	22 %
Sachsen	11.500 hl	12 %
Württemberg	800.000 hl	-27 %
Deutschland	6.898.500hl	-25%

 

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