This year’s main wine harvest is starting exceptionally early in the German wine regions due to the continuously sunny weather, reminiscent of the hot 2018 vintage.

According to the German Wine Institute, the prospects for a high-quality 2022 vintage are very promising. This is because a large part of the vineyards in the German wine regions are still doing quite well despite the extreme drought.

The grapes are in good health and there have been no major storms so far. The red wine varieties in particular are benefiting from the sunny weather, which gives hope for full-bodied and colour-intensive red wines. The white wine grapes are already very aromatic with moderate acidity.

It can be assumed that the harvest will proceed quite quickly because the sugar content in the berries will rise rapidly in the sunny weather and many varieties will reach harvest maturity at the same time. The grape harvest will end with Riesling, which is expected to be ready for harvest in mid-September.