Wine harvest in the Elbe valley: Despite decline, best quality for 2025 expected!

Wine harvest in the Elbe valley: Despite decline, best quality for 2025 expected!

The wine harvest in the Saxon Elbe valley, characterized by extreme weather conditions, has finally come to an end. After around six weeks of intensive work, most winemakers have already finished the harvest at the end of September. Felix Hößelbarth, the chairman of the Saxony winegrowing association, emphasizes: "The harvest is low at only 20 to 30 percent of the normal yield, we expect around 800 liters for the entire growing area." Despite these crop failures, the quality of the grapes and the overall vital health of the vines are remarkable.

The weather played a crucial role this year, as so often. The majority of the grapes were able to mature healthy thanks to the long dry period and the many hours of sunshine. "There are no signs of rot - the grapes are simply wonderful," says an optimization that the winemakers need in this difficult time.

optimism for the coming years

Not only this year's wine harvest has contributed to the fact that the winemakers carefully look at the future. The short reading spanned a period of two to three weeks shorter than usual, but this gave them the opportunity to prepare for the upcoming challenges at an early stage. Hößelbarth believes that the healthy grapes from 2024 could lead to a promising vintage: "Mature healthy grapes are the key to a good vintage," he said.

Despite the loss of earnings, the supply remains secured, also thanks to good harvests in previous years. "The wine lovers can breathe a sigh of relief - we are able to deliver," says Hößelbarth. This perspective is important for many producers who were forced to deal with the resources creatively and flexibly due to the challenges of 2024.

Another positive signal comes from the vines themselves. The winemakers have observed that they are exceptionally vital after they have received enough water and can now grow well. "The vines produced fewer grapes this season and were able to recover better," explained Hößelbarth. These favorable conditions offer promising prospects for the 2025 wine season.

challenges and special conditions

The Weinlese began in the Elbe valley at the end of August, which is a little earlier for this region compared to the usual time frames. The reasons for this are the different degrees of ripening of the grapes and the extreme temperatures during the frost period in April. Many winemakers feared considerable damage from the weather conditions in advance, which could only be minimally compensated for by a second output. As Martin Junge from the Saxon State Winut Schloss reported Wackerbarth, "we fought for every vine". Finally, however, the yield remained disappointing, it was only about 20 percent of a normal year.

An example of the extraordinary quality of the grapes can be found in the vineyards around Radebeul. Harvest work runs here until next week. The late stringsling, which is usually used as a sparkling wine, has achieved excellent maturity under the favorable conditions. "The must weights are high, the acid is low, and the aroma fits perfectly - so we are well positioned to get the estimated wines for our growing area," continues Junge.