VINTAGE REPORT 2024 | Cool Climate
The winter of 2023 / 2024 was very, very wet. However, after the extremely dry previous years, the rain was very welcome and refilled the shaken water reserves in the soil. The work in the vineyards nevertheless progressed quickly and we were delighted with the dream start to the new year. However, the spring was again far too warm. As a result, the vines started budding at the beginning of April, much earlier than usual. In the night from April 22nd to 23rd, temperatures dropped below freezing once again. These few hours of frost destroyed 20% of the vines and all of our young vineyards. That was a big shock.
The young vineyards on the eastern slopes are our central project for responding to global warming. Johannes Tesch is responsible for the young plantings of his future. When the small vines sprouted for the second time, Johannes and his fellow students from the “University of Viticulture & Oenology | Geisenheim” got to work. With healing hands, patience and an iron will, the students restored the vineyards. A truly impressive viticultural performance!
The 2024 summer was cool and again quite wet. Development slowed down and the vines flowered relatively late. In summer, the vines converted the abundant water into lush shoot growth. Our vineyards looked magnificent. A clear contrast to the hot and dry previous years.
In August, it became very warm again and the development of the grapes took a big leap forward. As a result, the grape harvest began a little earlier than we would have expected due to the late flowering of the vines. Due to the autumnal weather during the harvest, the grape harvest took longer than in the previous year. Our experienced team did a great job. All the grapes were harvested and processed at the right time in a calm and concentrated manner. After a year of surprises, this was a grape picking on the ideal line.
The 2024 TESCH wines are very full-bodied, complex and delicate due to the good water availability and moderate temperatures. Our Rieslings could not be more typical: COOL CLIMATE. Fresh, precise, expressive with moderate alcohol levels. An excellent, classic and cool vintage that will give us pleasure for a long time to come!
VINTAGE 2023 | the multi-layered one
Last year, we had to adapt time and time again to the constantly changing weather conditions. These contrasts make the new vintage really interesting and exceptional.
2023 got off to a relaxed start. The spring, especially May, was cool and damp. After the extremely dry previous year, this was a blessing for the vines. Our young vineyards in particular, whose root system is not yet so well developed, benefited from the rainfall. The vines budded relatively late, allowing them to grow normally.
In the summer of 2023, it was very hot and dry for a few weeks. At the end of June, optimal conditions prevailed for the grape blossom. As there was enough water available, the vineyards developed wonderfully. At this time, we assumed a ‘normal’ harvest time in October.
But things turned out differently again. In September, it was still very warm and humid at the same time. As a result, the grapes ripened much faster than expected. The surprisingly early harvest was a real challenge for us. We joined forces to bring in the fully ripe grapes in record time. Our team really did a great job!
Such a strong change in weather conditions leads to impressively complex wines. The fruit flavours are more exotic and the impression of the wines is richer. This is why the 2023 vintage is one of the most complex Riesling vintages of the last decade.
VINTAGE 2022 | Still Cool Climate?
The TESCH Riesling wines of the 2022 vintage are fresh, expressive and striking. The alcohol content is lower than the long-term average, which is typical for wines from cooler climates as their freshness, minerality and transparency. However, an extreme weather situation prevailed in 2022: heat and, above all, the greatest drought for many years.
In cooler years, our Riesling always reached maximum ripeness in warm plots with low yields. This factor no longer seemed to have an effect in 2022. Instead, the vineyards with a better, natural water supply were ahead in assimilation.
We see various explanations for these phenomena:
Under the effect of heat and drought, the Riesling stopped assimilation in August. The formation of aromas and the metamorphosis of the grape, on the other hand, were completely normal. This gap in sugar storage was not compensated by the vine in September at lower temperatures. This is the main reason for the lower alcohol content of our 2022 wines.
The conditions in the hot weeks of August seemed to be limiting for photosynthesis. If temperatures are too high, the assimilation rate collapses sharply and can even become negative.
Lighter into the future? Four of the last five years were too warm and too dry. It remains to be seen whether the above effects will obe repeated in the coming years. Perhaps the Rieslings from this extreme vintage are exemplary for future vintages?
We are responding to these new developments and have therefore been working on adapting our viticulture to higher temperatures for more than ten years. The viticultural goal today is no longer the maximum ripeness of the grapes, but a long, delayed ripening for aroma formation. Through various viticultural adjustments, we achieve clearly measurable and noticeable effects. The proportion of these new vineyards in our area increases year after year, and with it the resistance of the vineyard to high temperatures.
We are convinced that the lighter 2022 TESCH Rieslings are a perfect match for some current developments in the wine market! They are refreshing and concise, have a clear style. And they are definitely “Cool Climate”