Harvest Report Sylt 2021

Since 2009, we have owned a small vineyard in Keitum on the island of Sylt, making us one of the few wineries that grow wine in Germany's northernmost location. Even then, we had a good feel for the land and climate. This is because the Piwis planted there - so-called fungus-resistant grape varieties - such as our Solaris vines, are able to defy the predominantly wet weather and thrive even in the harsh North Sea climate.

On the last weekend of September 2021, our small team headed north to host the Sylt Vine Harvest. Together with around 100 euphoric vine tenants, we heralded the harvest of the vineyard with a befitting champagne reception.

The excellent quality of the grapes created an exuberant mood within the troupe. Unlike still wine grapes, the grapes for the base sparkling wine are harvested based on their acidity rather than their sugar content. Since the grapes traditionally undergo two alcoholic fermentations in sparkling wine production, it is important that the grapes harvested are not too sweet, otherwise too much sugar is converted into alcohol. Our Solaris grapes had an acidity of 10g/l and 82 Oechsle. These are perfect conditions for the production of our fine Söl‘ring Solaris Sekt extra brut.

However, it was not only the very healthy harvest that surprised us after this rather difficult year, but also the considerable quantities that the Keitum vineyard had in store for us. After more than half of the grapes still remained on the vine during the Sylt grapevine tenant harvest on September 24, it was necessary to spontaneously organize another truck to transport our healthy grapes to the Rheingau. The harvest, which normally takes place within one day, thus lasted another two days this year.

After the precious cargo arrived safely in the Rheingau, the grapes were processed. Meanwhile, the musts completed their first fermentation and are resting in our stainless steel tanks. Next, the base wines are filled into sparkling wine bottles with a special sparkling wine yeast, so-called riddling aid and sweet reserve to initiate the second fermentation. The Söl‘ring Solaris Sekt extra brut will age in this bottle for at least 14 months to develop its full potential and characteristic melt.