Lehdistötiedote, marraskuu 2017
Early harvest, small volumes but good quality
The German 2017 grape wine harvest has yielded good to very good wine qualities with in many cases low volumes. Unusually heavy and widespread frosts in April were the key reason behind the relatively large crop losses at many estates. The year´s total intake across the country of 7.5 million hectolitres is expected to be 18 per cent down on the previous year as well as the ten-year average of 9 million hectolitres.
In most German wine regions the harvest was completed very early, with only a very few estates leaving grapes in the vineyard for a possible ice wine production. The qualities harvested are on the whole very satisfactory, resulting in a 2017 vintage of generally light, fruity wines with great finesse which match the current trend in consumers´ tastes.
Read more about how the wine year developed in Germany´s 13 wine regions (pdf)!