2010 Vintage – 50% Harvest Losses but with Wines of Better than Expected Quality!
Dear friends of our family and our wines,
The 2010 vintage was heavily influenced by weather developments. A very long and cold winter with heavy snowfall left its first traces early on. Due to the below zero temperatures, some vineyards froze and could only be used to a limited extent for grape production.
Your own garden certainly was also impacted by the severe winter weather. Many of your plants that didn't survive the last winter didn’t freeze but rather dried out. The heavy snowfall wasn’t available for the plants as during the snowmelt, the water simply drained off the frozen ground.
The grapevines budded with a slight delay during the first 10 days of May. May and June were wet and mild so that the grapevines didn’t bloom until the end of June. Our grapevines really started growing with a 14 day delay during the very hot and dry July. After just a few days, some people began to talk about a drought period, but our vineyards began this phase with full water tanks. Depending on the type of soil, the grapevines had access to between 300 to 500 liters of water. This ample water supply helped the grapevines to further develop very quickly. By the end of July, grapevine growth had overcome the time deficit and was even about 14 days ahead of schedule.
The weather development during August and September was unstable. It was unusual to have three days in a row without rain. Unfortunately, the ahead-of-schedule grapevine growth advantage was lost, and the first grapes began to rot. The very small 2010 harvest quantity was primarily caused by the “noble rot.” As a result, our harvest quantity was only about 50% of a normal year’s harvest. The hard manual work that we perform every year to ensure the quality of our wines such as the “green harvest” in summer and the selective harvest by hand in the fall nevertheless enabled us to harvest fine Riesling and elegant Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir) grapes. Our first tastings confirm the excellent quality of the 2010 wines. They are extract rich and have very good ageing potential.
The 2010 Riesling wines are top of the line. These wines already exhibit a very nice fruit structure with lots of body. We were also able to produce wonderful, fruity Spätlese and Auslese wines. These wines will offer you much enjoyment and have outstanding ripening potential.
As a result of the extremely small 2010 harvest quantity, only in 1980 was the harvest so poor, we were forced to adjust our prices accordingly. We have tried to make these price adjustments as moderate as possible, but have not been able to avoid a significant price increase.
We have had to reallocate the available quantities. For example, we have had to further reduce the assortment of liter wines from the 2010 vintage. We have canceled the Emotion Line. To compensate for this, the Exclusive Line will be expanded to include the “Allendorf Illusion Rosé fruchtig” (a fruity wine) and the Allendorf Illusion Rot samtig” (a velvety wine). Also in future, the Allendorf Terroir Line will continue to feature our single vineyard wines in the elegant, cork-sealed Allendorf bottle.
The 2009 vintage has delivered some of the best wines that we have ever harvested: The 2009 Winkeler Hasensprung Riesling Spätlese fruchtig that was selected by Mundus Vini as one of the best fruity Riesling wines in the world and the three phenomenal Riesling Erste Gewächse (literally translated, “First Growth,”– German Grand Cru class quality).
The year 2010 demonstrated to us once again that we can't automatically expect to harvest a dream vintage every year. Wine is a gift of God and a product of hard work. In 2011, we will once again strive, together with our employees, to produce outstanding quality wines while trusting in God.
We hope that you will understand our situation.
With the spirit of Riesling and Spätburgunder in our hearts,
The Allendorf and Schönleber families
How to Be Satisfied Even with Less
No doubt about it: The 2010 vintage produced a small harvest. We were only able to harvest half of the normal quantity of some grape varieties. This was the case, for example, with our burgundy wines. The Riesling harvest was 30% lower than normal. However, there is also a good side to all of this: The wines that we barreled and then later bottled and still have to bottle are of absolute top quality. Let's look forward to them!
Delightful Reds and Whites
The 2010 vintage Riesling wines stand out with their fine fruity aromas that are embedded in a wonderful, powerful body. Their delicate, concentrated fruity taste is simply fantastic. You must try them!
Our mature 2006, 2007 and 2008 vintage burgundy wines have now reached absolute top of the line quality. That’s been confirmed by the many prizes that we have “pocketed” for them. We will tell you more about them later on. Our 2009 Pinots also show much promise. Yes, it's true: 2009 was a great burgundy year in the Rheingau. Even more: The Spätburgunder wines that we harvested in 2009 are better than all of the red wines that we harvested during the last 15 years. Share our excitement about these big wines with great potential!
Sustainability
Our family has been actively working for many years to ensure that also our children and grandchildren inherit a world in which life is worth living. In recognition of these efforts, our membership certificate of the Hessian Environmental Alliance (“Umweltallianz Hessen”) now hangs in our office for everyone to see. This certificate officially confirms our performance in the field of environmental protection and certifies us as a participant in the “EcoStep-LIFE” Project. Participants from various disciplines are working together in this project that focuses on the topics of quality, occupational safety and environmental protection. We are proud to be an active participant in this project!