2010 Harvest Report

Even if a family lives with and from nature for generations, there still can be surprises. The 2010 weather conditions were of never seen before diversity.

Following upon a late, wet and cold springtime, summer started in June very suddenly with extreme heat and dryness. July brought rain but also unusual cold temperatures, as well as August. Vines had a hard time developing evenly ripe fruit, slightly warmer weather in September helped little. October brought relief with a lot of sunshine providing the grapes with the necessary ripeness. This fast ripening helped spreading Botrytis on the few compact bunches. But the warm and dry climate concentrated affected berries very quickly, increasing sugar content but also acid.

We started picking on October 14th, however slow and very selective. Most grapes were barely ripe enough as acidity levels were surprisingly high for this time of the year. It was not before the last October week that we were able to pick fully ripe fruit for Spätlese wines. Botrytis affected berries were picked separately and were of Beeren- and Trockenbeerenauslese quality. Eventually even Eiswein was possible on December 3rd, 100 litres harvested in the Ohligsberg vineyard at -10°C (14°F) with 190° Oechsle (42° Brix).

Thus 2010 offers the whole spectrum of wines with “Prädikat”. The only downside of the 2010s: their availability. Quantity wise it is the smallest vintage in Germany for decades. Due to little fruit set in spring and water loss through concentration in October our yield is at about 60% of an average year. But we are sure; the quality will make up for it!

Cheers! Your Family Haart