Friday, August 24, 2018

Off to Germany and Austria for Tasting

On Saturday, 25 August, I'll begin four days of tasting German wines, mostly Grosses Gewächs. I'll follow that up with some visits in the Mosel-Saar-Ruwer and Franken regions, then I'll be off to Austria for some more tasting.

I'm hopeful that I'll be able to have notes up beginning this Sunday or Monday.

Background on the 2017 German harvest is that it is an early vintage with low quantities, largely due to frosts in April, but in some regions also due to hail later on. Preliminary figures show quantities down 18% from 2016 and from the 10-year average. In the Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, it was more serious, down 15% from the already short 2016 harvest and down 25% from the 10-year average. In contrast, Franken is an exception, with 4% more than in 2016 and 10% more than the 10-year average.