Episode 3: a year in the life of a winemaker

Harvest time! The whole year we look forward to the moment when the grape plant's growth cycle reaches its peak and the fruits of hard work can be picked. We follow the Austrian wine growers closely! - TEXT EDITORS | IMAGE AUSTRIAN WINE / ROBERT HERBST

Living with the vines | Episode 3: autumn

In the cellar, the destemmers, grape presses and fermentation tanks are ready. In the vineyards in, winemakers keep an eye on ripening progress, monitor must weight and pH levels, and constantly taste the berries to determine the ideal harvest moment. As the sugar content in the berries increases, the acidity decreases. Achieving the perfect balance is crucial for the subsequent quality of Austria's wines, which are characterised by their freshness as well as their density and intensity.

Harvest time

Harvest time has arrived! As we see elsewhere, climate change is causing the grape harvest to start earlier and earlier in Austria. Some early varieties are fully ripened by mid-August, but the main harvest starts in September and usually lasts several weeks. During this most tiring but also most beautiful time of the year, winemakers work almost around the clock. They hope for dry, stable weather so that the harvest can come in smoothly and hassle-free.

By hand or by machine?

Grapes are harvested either by hand or by machine. Harvesting by hand allows an initial selection to be made immediately and any mouldy grapes to be separated in the vineyard. Otherwise, this is done at the cellar on the sorting table, by hand by Austrian seasonal workers or via the bionic eye of a machine that selects the grapes.

Pressing & fermentation

Then processing begins in the cellar. White wines are either pressed directly (pressing of whole bunches) or first separated from the stems (destemming) and then pressed. Alcoholic fermentation of the must begins, either induced by selected yeasts or spontaneously thanks to natural yeasts. This depends on the philosophy and preference of the individual Austrian winemaker. Red wine grapes undergo fermentation on the skins, this gives the red wine its colour and tannins. During fermentation, the skins and pips that float to the top are pushed back down daily. This improves extraction.

Maturation period

When the harvest is ready in October, on that for the fantastic Austrian Eiswein after, vintners focus entirely on work in the cleder in October. The ripening period begins. Behind each bottle of wine, there end up being months of work and countless manual interventions. Until the Austrian winemakers can serve their wines in the Hot or Buschenschank (wine pubs) whether we can taste this unique product at home in the Netherlands or Belgium.

Want to know more about the different growth stages? Read all at AUSTRIANWINE.COM and/or watch the fantastic videos from 'A year in the life of a winegrower' via YOUTUBE 

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