| Two months of the year 2001 - September and October
- sorely tried vintners' emotions and decisively influenced the quality of vintage
2001.
First came September and with it, the seemingly endless rains that evoked
memories of the problematic harvest of 2000 and threatened to jeopardize the positive
developments of the spring and summer of 2001. Blossoming was timely even though
temperatures were slightly cool. In June, July and August the weather was overall
well balanced with regard to the amount of rainfall and average temperatures.
As a result, ripening began early - for Riesling, in mid-August. It is certainly
interesting to note that during the past decade, the development of the grapes
has proceeded and the onset of ripening has occurred considerably earlier than
in the four decades before.
Although many hopes were shattered during rain-soaked
September, the weather changed course in October it was literally a "golden
October" that had an extremely positive influence on must weights and enabled
grapes to reach a very high degree of ripeness.
Indeed, the very high quality
of vintage 2001 is due primarily to the positive developments during the month
of October. The Rheingau sites at higher elevations with stony soils, such as
those of Rauenthal, Hallgarten and Kiedrich, as well as Rüdesheim and Lorch,
benefited in particular. The vineyards with heaver, water-retaining soils near
the Rhine were afflicted with rot during the damp, warm weather at the end of
September.
At Weingut Robert Weil we were able to harvest a very high proportion
of Prädikat wines in 2001. As of late October, we achieved absolute top must
weights in the individual Prädikat categories. We produced splendid dry wines
from extremely healthy grapes with must weights of +/- 95° Oechsle as well
as a full range of lusciously sweet wines, including Trockenbeerenauslese with
must weights exceeding 200° Oechsle. On 14 December we harvested Eiswein with
180° Oechsle - and thus, for 13 years running, have succeeded in producing
wines of every Prädikat level.
The young wines of vintage 2001 are extremely
compact and rich in extract, and have a long finish. They show an elegant, very
ripe acidity and a fine, fruity aroma. These wines will doubtlessly rank among
the best of the past decade at Weingut Robert Weil.
Yields in 2001 averaged
48 hl/ha - considerably lower than the long-term average. The lower yields are
not only the result of selective picking during the harvest, but also - and not
least - due to quality-oriented vineyard measures practiced throughout the year. |
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