Dreissigacker Vintage

All year round, everything at Dreissigacker Winery revolves around the best wine quality. First, the focus is on the vineyard, from optimal soil quality and protection of the vines, to yield reduction, and finally to the optimal harvest time. The biodynamic cultivation of our vineyards demands a lot of attention and understanding of the natural cycle. After the harvest, the Dreissigacker team continues with full focus in the cellar. The wines are aged in peace, blended, and finally bottled. In the Dreissigacker Academy, we show how a vintage is created over the entire wine year.

Over the next few weeks, we will give you insights into the creation of the new 2025 vintage – blending requires the utmost concentration, dedication, and attention to detail. In the vineyard, our team has been busy with pruning since the beginning of winter – the cornerstone for all future vintages. Each vine is reduced to a single shoot so that it can develop its full vitality. The pruned vines remain as wood chips in the vineyard and form the basis for our humus, thus being returned to the cycle. Once the pruning is complete, we carefully tie the vines to give them sufficient stability for growth.

The vine pruning was not long ago. The vines were reduced to a single promising shoot. This shoot concentrates all the vitality from the soil and into the grapes that will eventually grow on it. All other shoots were uncompromisingly removed. After countless targeted cuts, the next step is tying the vines.

To ensure that the berries and foliage wall have sufficient support on the chosen fruit cane in the future, we stabilize it by tying it to the wire frame. For this purpose, it must first be bent over the wire. Bending requires a special degree of experience, skill, and sensitivity. Qualities that we can attribute to every member of the team.

In spring, they emerge from the soil inconspicuously – barely more than a thin shoot, yet they carry the full potential of a future vintage within them. For the young plants to take root well, the timing must be right: the soil should be loose but not too moist – ready to receive the delicate roots. The vines are carefully placed into prepared furrows, then the earth gently surrounds them protectively.

The spacing between the plants is also crucial. If they are closer, competition for nutrients increases – and the vines send their roots deeper into the soil. This strengthens their resilience and lays the foundation for long-lasting, characterful wines.

A healthy ecosystem manages to draw strength from within itself, to maintain and strengthen its health independently. We believe in the principles of biodynamics and therefore do not intervene invasively in the natural processes in our vineyards. And yet, sometimes a gentle steering in the right direction – or the wrong one – is needed. This is at least how we deal with the pests from which we must protect our vines. To protect the valuable plants from major damage by the grape berry moth, we deploy pheromone ampoules that emit the scent of the female grape berry moth. In this way, only the pest loses its orientation. Beneficial insects and nature remain unaffected. We use nature's own means to protect it – and thus close a biodynamic circle here as well.

Fertile soil forms the basis for healthy, thriving plants and a high-quality harvest. Soil fertilization is largely responsible for soil health and is of enormous importance at Dreissigacker Winery. Even when it comes to fertilization, we are uncompromising in our commitment to biodynamics and natural farming. That's why we produce our own fertilizer. It consists of one-third cow manure, one-third wood chips, and one-third green waste. We prepare the fertilizer every year in October, compost it for about eight to ten weeks at a maximum of 70 degrees, and then let it rest covered. In the first weeks of April, the Dreissigacker team applies the fertilizer to the vineyards. There, it is immediately incorporated into the soil so that the existing microorganisms, which are essential for the soil's biodiversity, can continue to work in the soil, protected from UV light. The artisanal and sustainable management of our vineyards forms the foundation of our understanding of natural and biodynamic viticulture. With fertilization in April, we ensure healthy soil life and the best conditions for the next vintage.

Over the warmer days and especially nights, the vines bud. To obtain the best possible grapes and to protect the plants naturally from diseases, the yield is reduced and so-called densification is prevented. Reducing the yield means that double shoots are removed so that a single shoot can grow from each bud. This prevents competition for nutrients. By reducing the number of shoots, fewer grapes are obtained, but these are of higher quality. In addition, shoots growing at an angle are removed to guarantee upright growth of the foliage wall.

Tying is one of the recurring, structure-giving work steps in the vineyard. We dedicate ourselves to each individual vine every eight to ten days – until the canopy is fully closed by the end of June. The vine grows vigorously towards the light. Our task is to accompany this growth and bring it into shape. With the help of catch wires, we form an upright, uniform canopy.

The young shoots are gently bordered, fixed - and repeatedly guided. What is ordered now will pay off later: An open structure ensures more air, more light and creates optimal conditions for healthy, high-quality reading material.

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