Favorable omens for Saxon winegrowers

The roots of the vines have little reserve material

The lower wood mass from the 2024 vegetation meant that the roots of the vines, also known as "batteries" among winegrowers, were not "fully charged" with reserve material. "In order to protect our vines and not overload them, we have therefore pruned fewer eyes this year, i.e. specifically limited the number of shoots for this wine year." However, he does not want to make any predictions about the quality and quantity for this year until the grapes are in the wine cellar.

Expert tip: timing and technique of pruning are crucial

The Radebeul winegrower Karl Friedrich Aust had good experiences with frost candles last year. "These were used in the vineyards directly at the winery and this kept losses to a minimum". He had also taken out frost insurance.

Aust had also suffered significantly fewer losses at the premium site, the "Radebeuler Goldener Wagen". "The walls there may have stored more heat and the frost was also able to drain off better due to the steep location." According to Aust, in order to prevent too early budding, the soil should be worked as late as possible, the vines should be pruned very late in young vineyards and special pruning techniques should be used in general.

Care about water deficit in the soil

Larger wineries have no technical means of protecting themselves against
late frost weather extremes, said Björn Probst, operations manager at
Weingut Schloss Proschwitz Prinz zur Lippe. "It is neither possible to light thousands of
candle fires in the vineyards at short notice, nor to install technical
equipment." However, he is optimistic. "We are currently more concerned about the water deficit in the soil. The last few months have been too dry, so we are hoping for sufficient rain in April."

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