Welcome to the Jesuit Garden.
We are already in the middle of the year, high time to check on our vines again.
As an agency for packaging design, we have concluded a management contract with the Allendorf family for our row in the Jesuitengarten (GG Lage). There are 80 proud vines there and we regularly stop by to find out how they are doing. We’ll also be helping with the harvest again!
This year the vines are about 3-4 weeks late compared to the last few years. It’s been quite cold so far. At the moment, many leaves have formed and flower buds or shoots can be seen. The flower spikes already look like small bunches of grapes, but this is only apparent, which is where the name Geschein comes from.
The flowers will open soon and then pollination will take place. However, not necessarily via bees, the wind helps with the self-pollination of the hermaphrodite plants. However, Riesling tends to trickle. This means that a large proportion of the flowers that are now visible do not become berries, but fall off beforehand.
Reduced yield is a gain
An approximate yield of 55-60 hectoliters per hectare is expected, i.e. 5,500-6,000 liters. The number of liters x 1.3 gives the grape weight. That would be about 7.8 tons of grapes per hectare. This is a deliberately reduced amount in order to increase the quality of the grapes and thus the wine. After all, our vineyard section is located in the Jesuitengarten, a VDP-certified “Große Lage”.
Rebereziehung
The sight of the vines also reveals something about the training methods. There are various possibilities or even philosophies here. This allows you to react to climatic conditions, for example. If grapes hang close to the ground, they become very warm, so they are “trained” to hang higher so that they are not damaged by extreme temperatures. In 2019, there were peaks of over 40°C that can be compensated for in this way. The foliage wall can create additional shade, with the ratio of leaves to bunches playing an important role.
One experiment to make the grapes less sensitive to the sun was the cultivation of red Riesling. These are white grapes with pigments that provide protection. This was less successful than we had hoped, but it still resulted in good wine.
The vegetation in the vines also has an influence on the soil and the supply of water and nutrients to the vines. Ground cover plants take water away from the vines, but provide nitrogen. Without any vegetation at all, the soil is at risk of being washed out.
With nature to perfection
Caring for the vines is therefore a complex matter and requires a great deal of knowledge in order to achieve the desired results. Allendorf has a long tradition of working with nature to produce perfect wines. What was already common practice will soon be sealed. Allendorf is currently working on obtaining organic certification. Let’s drink to that!
What does a packaging design agency have to do with vines? We want to get to the heart of the matter before we design the surface – i.e. the packaging. Only those who understand a food product can translate its taste into suitable packaging design. That’s why we have creative minds in the kitchen working on food long before the packaging design comes into play.
