Germany’s 2018 vintage is one that will go down in the
records books for several reasons. It is possibly the biggest, almost certainly
the earliest, and very likely one of the driest on record – a vintage that saw almost
uninterrupted sunshine from May until harvest started in mid- September.
Most
regions had one or two refreshing rain events during the growing season, but
otherwise it was sunny, warm, and overall, exceptionally dry. There was no
frost, and almost nothing lost to hail – the most notable exceptions being two
of Klaus-Peter Keller’s top sites Morstein and Abts E, both of which had their
production trimmed by around one third by a severe hail storm on the 1st
June.