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https://reasonstobecheerful.world/viennese-winemakers-ancient-method-gemischter-satz/>
"In August 2002 a devastating flood hit Austria. After days of relentless rain,
the Danube burst its banks, large swathes of the country were under water and
more than 10,000 homes were damaged or destroyed.
After the floodwaters receded, winemaker Rainer Christ surveyed the damage to
his Viennese vineyards: “It was horrible to see, rot and mold everywhere,
entire slopes were affected.” Then he reached his family’s oldest vineyard,
where multiple grape varieties were interplanted in the traditional style. “And
everything was fine,” he recalls.
His grandfather used to talk about field blends, the ancient way of wine
growing that was standard until the mid-19th century, but Christ dismissed it
as the nostalgic musings of an old man — monovarietal vineyards and a high-tech
approach were the way forward; everybody knew that. “That was the first time I
thought, I guess they knew what they were doing back then,” recalls Christ.
“They didn’t have a large chemical arsenal to help out, but they observed
nature very closely, on the lookout for things that could be put to good use.”
That vineyard is 85 years old now, still producing an excellent field blend
known in Vienna as Gemischter Satz, and Christ has become one of the Viennese
winemakers that has brought this all-but-forgotten wine back into the
mainstream.
The practice of strategically interplanting multiple grape varieties was long
considered an insurance strategy, mentioned by Columella and Pliny the Elder
back in Roman times. With different grape varieties reacting differently to
cold, heat, rainfall and drought, at least some would survive a season
regardless of what nature had in store. “It was a risk minimization strategy
that developed from experience,” says Johannes Friedberger, a winemaker and
lecturer at the College and Institute for Viticulture and Pomology
Klosterneuburg."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
