A vintage with little steps, we harvest 2 days and stop, harvest again and stop etc... the sky is still blue, indian summer in Alsace ! This morning we went to the Wineck-Schlossberg hill to cut the riesling grand cru grappes (13,5° alcohol), tomorrow we will continu with the gewurztraminer and finish this 2009 harvest. In the wine cellar the fermentations are going on very fast, pinot blanc and pinot gris go to finish soon. Below the first picture of the pinot noir from our little "school-vineyard". We press it by feet.. and will give you a detailled report soon. Linda and Doug Posson from Colorado and the  Koch family from Ruederbach joined us for a day. Thank you !.

29 avril 2009, it is springtime and everything awakes  ! this special and rare vineyards tulips bring a lot of sunshine actually. It is a period of soil work and for the biodynamic preparation called 500. Yesterday was perfect because the rain of the night opened the soils after 10 days of very hot and dry weather. At 6 pm everything was ready except this home made engin used to spray the preparation on the vineyards soils, Clément had to repare quick before spreeding out until the night. During the day we prepared the embotteling of next week and had to clean the tuns. As pinot gris Klur and riesling grand cru Wineck Schlossberg are still in fermentation, the wines for the Voyou de Katz and Gentil de Katz 2008 are ready. Today 2 delegations of the national organisation Vignerons Independants visited us. 50 wine growers from other regions in France interested by organic growing, architecture, and wine tourism. This is  the wine growers life...always jumping from one work to the other !

After this long winter time, the first flowers came out this week...we just finished cuting the vines (its called pruning) because we started late january to respect the rythm of the plant. Actually we start to attach the vine shoots, this a women work, man repar the system of trellising (but organisation may also be different). Everything is still asleap outside but there is some activity in the wine cellar: some of our 2008 wines didn't finish their fermentation. Perhaps they also feel the growing up of the sap in the vine stocks outside.... Last 2 months we didn't have a lot of opportunities to respect the moon rythms because we had to share our outside work between the rain periods and snow storms, a real wintertime !! normally it is better to prun young vinestock at downward and weaker ones at rising moon but it is not always possible.  Either we didn't spread the bio dynamic preparations for the soil because it was to weat and the tractor would have pack the ground of the vineyards and this is not good for the life in the soil in spring. We will do it this month and tell you about it.  Maria Thun's calender of sowings remembers us that "if the meadows are covered with snow in march, the harvest will be good", so everything is perfect, just be patient.... 

Just one week before Thanksgiving we harvested the last grappes of this vintage. After the stop of last week with sunshine and cold nights we picked the riesling and gewurztraminer from monday october 20th to thursday (stop on wednesday because of the showers). Early this monday morning Eric climbed up to the Grand Cru Wineck Schlossberg hill (first picture left), exposed south-south-east. The long maturation period of these grappes gave probably an interesting complexity to the aromes, we will tell you more in a few weeks. Riesling Grand Cru 13,5 degrees, Riesling Klur (from old vines) 13 degrees, Gewurztraminer from Hinterburg and Heiligbrunn at least 15 degrees. The team is smilling on this very last picture because they are all very tired, so do Clément bringing back the last grappes on thursday evening. Elisa tries to drive the Fennwick to bring the grappes up to the press, not easy ... in a forgotten seal in the garden we found a curious visitor, beautifull and very rare salamander, we brought it back to the grass very quick.  The "Herbschtbrot" is the traditionnal party for the evening when grappe picking ends and this year Fusila cooked a morrocan couscous for us ! something different that choucroute and an opening to another culture. Petit Pierre liked it very much and also the big bottle of wine....finally some morrocan musique and dances finished this hard period

Pinot gris and riesling Klur for the begining of this week with a large team for a few days. Nice grappes with good alcool levels: 13 for the riesling and 15 for the pinot gris, for the specialists this means 92 and 105 oechslés. Two former wine pickers from Michigan came back after 25 years. Lynn and Jacques met at Klur winestate, get maried, had beautifull children, and love Alsace wines !! 

Sun and a only a few clouds help the grappes to maturity. This week we wait before picking pinot gris, sylvaner and the other varieties. In the tuns the juices of last week began the fermentation: only the crémant juice (on the left) is a little sparkling, the others are still quiet. We don't use external yiest so we have to be patient.
 

Look at this ! the first juice of this vintage coming out of the wine press ! we started the Crémant harvest september 22nd with the grappe varieties Pinot Blanc and Pinot Auxerrois. A wonderfull week with cold nights, perfect to concentrat the aroms in the berries and sunny days. Some of these vinestocks get injured by the hail storm in july 2007 but are well know even if the yield is lower than 2006. In anoter vineyard we had a beginning of rot on the grappes (a lot of rain this summer) but  we sorted the grappes in the vines and the result is well. The 2008 team is very attentive "and works well" say Clément. "11 degrees for the Crémant juice is perfect". If the weather remains stable we will wait until 5 or 6 oktober to continue with the other grappe varieties. The story will continue later.....

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Définitions :
Définition légale : « agriculture n’utilisant pas de produits chimique de synthèse, dite agriculture biologique ». Définition agronomique : « Agriculture basée sur la gestion rationnelle de la fraction vivante du sol, dans le respect des cycles biologiques et de l’environnement pour une production de qualité, équilibrée, plus autonome, plus économe et non polluante. »

Objectifs : Ecologiques :
-préserver les équilibres naturels du sol et des plantes
-favorise le recyclage 

Firstly: to make an «organic» wine you need organic grapes! To make a « wine from organic grapes», organic winemakers pledge to manage their vineyard by organic rules.  They confrom to a European regulation, that respects the territory and environment.  All of the vineyards are inspected each year, by certified organisations, recognized by the Minister of Agriculture and the Minister of the economy.
What about the wine-making?  Organic vineyards have developed folders with techniques used to guarantee an "organic" elaboration of wine (Charter of the national federation of interprofessionals of organic wine and agriculture", different rules…)  The respect of these rules is verified by independant organisms that control organic grapes.  They guarantee: anoverall organic appproach, from planting to the bottle, the total absence of GMOs, the minimal utilisation of additives, restricted a very short list.
What about your health in all of this? The Association for Therapeutic Anti-cancer Research reminds us that « it is scientifially proven that "organic" food is more rich in antioxydants and vitamins than traditional alimentation. »

The peparation 500 or "bouse de corne" occupies an important place in biodynamic agriculture because it pertains to the soil and the roots of the plants. It is obtained by fermenation in the soil during the winter of cow dung introduced into cow horns by particular procedures.  The corns are pulled out of the soil and the dung must be humid, thin, supple, and without odor in order to be used. It is conserved in a ceramic recipient sheltered from the sun, in a trunk of wood, for example.  This is preparation is used at least twice a year, in the spring and fall, a bt before the biological activity in the soil becomes more active. The preparation is pulverised in the evening after being touched up.
This preparation favors microb activity in the soil, the formation of humus and ameliorates the absorption and the retention of water in the soil which regulates the pH (increases it in acidic soils and lowers it in basic soils). It stimulates the germination of grains, the growth of root systems, and helps the dissolution of minerals in the soils.

Above all we use a mix of copper and sulfer based products to minimize the necessary dose. The nettle mixture is a stimulant of vegetative growth. It is also resistant to mildew and helps control anthropods. The best time to harvest it is at the beginnng of its flowering, but we always have nettles on reserve, used regularly. It gives us fresh nettles during the whole season. 1 kg of fresh nettles for 5 liters of water, boil and leave to infuse for 10 to 20 minutes, dilute until you have 40 liters of product to pulverise per hectare.

Preparations of 500 and 501 are diluted in water and stirred with alot of energy for 1 hour before bieng pulverised. The bewing may be done in a copper, wood, or enamel recipient that is large permitting a good vortex. We use copper with palpeur of an Australian type, as well as rain water that has been collected. will stirring, the water will form a deep vortex, changing directions equals chaos.

Small quantities are used for the mixture: 100 grams de bouse de corne in 30 litres of water can be used in 1 hectare, and 2 to 4 grams de silice de corne per hectare in 30 litres of water.  Pulverisation must be done as soon as the brewing is finished, at high pressure (like fog) for the silice and at low pressure for the bouse de corne (medium sized drops).

Bio, biodynamics, resaonable cultivation, natural wine ....a plethora of terms exist that do not necessarily designate the same thing. Reasonable culitvation's goal is to minimize interventions in vineyards, by reducing the dose of products used, it should be the minimumu standard of all agrticultural activity (wine or cereale as well as leasure gardeners). Organic agriculture goes further and prohibits synthetic chemical products. It seeks first and foremost, to preserve the planet's natural balances. You cannot simply inject nutrients into the earth and expect it to produce more.  It is living and we must respect it. ORganic agriculture is controlled and labelized. Biodynamic agriculture is inspired by organic agriculture but adds the notion of dynamisme to the vignes helping them resist against exterior agressions on their own with the help of natural products administered in homeopathique doses.  Choosing certain plant mixtures and the right time of year to apply them makes all the difference.

The origin of biodynamics: in 1924 Rudolf Steiner an Austrien philospher taught the pre-cursors of this method in his agriculture classes. Since, thousands of farmers from all over the world have begun experimenting and exchanging their practices. Biodynamics require careful observation of the vignes and flexibility from the grower.

Principles : Biodynamics considers that agriculture is a part of a system in which the components are inter-dependent on each other.  The method seeks to balance the cultures with their immediate surroundings (soil, microclimate, ecosystem) and even further (Earth, planets, sun, moon).

The cycles: you know that the moon has an effect on the swamps, this appears to be evidnt and unquestionable, why does this effect not happen with cultures of plants? The sun also has an unquestionable influence on the Earth why not on the the planets closer to the sun? Biodynamics defends the idea that the Earth is part of a vast system where all planets are interdependent on each other and where each brings energy to the others.  Biodynamics tries to channel these energies.

Read the artciles on soil, on the seeding calendar, under 500 et 501.

Terroir is not only soil and climate but also the time that man has invested in the soil. There are vineyards in Katzenthal that have been cultivated since the time of the Romans.  This wine has been well-known since the 13th century.  Here's the proof!

Since when have vines been growing in Katzenthal ?

Goetz write to his brother chanoine in Thann: "I have opened up a speculative commerce that might bring us large fortunes. This speculation counts of the good wines of Alsace. The only thing that yoy need to do, is help us transport the wines of Katzenthal by Strasbourg and Hollande ", this was February 7th, 1783.

Catzelthal....from 1240 and on a map maker mentioned nine groupings of vignes in the hinterland of Ingerheim, Katzenthal and Ammerschwihr. The maturity of wines from Katzenthal needs no more proof. In the same era Werner de Hattstatt offers two juchert of vignes "in Cuttenthal" near Katzenthal to the monks of Unterlinden in Colmar...