About the year
The year started with a relatively mild and dry winter (January-February). March started warm, followed by a few weeks of cooler weather in the middle of the month, but by the end of the month, temperatures had reached 20 °C on several occasions. This warming trend continued into April, with the vines starting to bud in the first week of April. Then, in the middle of April, a two-week cooling period brought nature to a standstill, and shoot development also slowed down. There was virtually no significant rainfall from the beginning of September 2018 until April, with the first major showers coming in April.
May was colder than in previous years, so flowering did not begin until June, even for the early varieties. Nearly three times as much precipitation fell in April (140-160 mm). However, during flowering (in June), it became unexpectedly very hot, with temperatures around 30 °C, so there were varieties that did not set fruit perfectly.
Ripening occurred in mid-July, which meant that the harvest would not begin in August this year.
By the end of July, the summer heat had arrived with temperatures of 30-35°C, followed by a slight cooling in the first ten days of August. The rest of August was extremely hot, with temperatures reaching 40°C. After mid-September, temperatures were typically around 20-25°C, with a few days of rain refreshing the hot, dry days. By October, temperatures were around 20°C until the end of the month, when cold weather arrived unexpectedly with heavy rain.
In 2019, we harvested high-quality, healthy grapes and expect a good vintage.