The winegrower’s year begins after the first frost. Or does it end there …?
Thoughts about the wine year at Braunstein:
Winter stands for retreat, gather strength and pool. The landscape shows itself in brown, sparse dress. Nature seems to be at rest. But she is already collecting reserves, information for the next season. For us it is therefore the first step to take quality assurance measures, the pruning is pending.
We have been practicing gentle pruning for over 9 years. Each individual plant is cut based on its growth power, water flow and its individual tendency. The aim is to build healthy and old vines that provide us with high quality grapes.
Spring stands for awakening, growth and striving. We sow herbs that allow us the variety of plants between the rows of vineyards, spray nettle tea to strengthen, the biodynamic preparation 500 (= cow horn manure preparation) and present the new white wines. The rods are tied to the wire frame and the wild shoots are cleaned off the trunk. All by hand, of course, because conscious and precise manual work alone guarantees 60 percent the success of organic production.
In summer, the sun’s rays are concentrated. We knit the leaves into the wire frame. Each leaf is sunbathed and thus functions as a small photovoltaic system that provides the vine with sufficient energy and supplies the grapes with sugar. Field shaft tea, as well as the preparation 501 (cow horn pebble preparation) strengthen the structure, resistance and concentration. Chamomile tea soothes in the heat, valerian protects against possible hail. The powerful reserve red wine is bottled in these summer months and can then mature in the bottle in the cool cellar for another 2 years. The filling dates are coordinated according to the biodynamic lunar calendar by Maria Thun.
Autumn brings us the harvest, everything we sown, what we worked for, can now be brought in. We eagerly await the outcome of the year, which will ultimately be determined by the weather conditions. In the cellar, it is important that the wines are accompanied deliberately and carefully. The vintage should be captured in its form and as a sign of real craftsmanship, without make-up and honest. Delicious and tasty, that’s how the Braunstein wines should be. Ambassadors of real joy, joy lived.