2024 Recap

Yes, yes, it has been a while. But I’m back, so here it is, a bit of a recap of the 2024 season. You could say we rode our luck a bit during the growing season, but after all the turmoil, I am for now anyway, super happy with the final wines.

A really warm March and early April led to an earlier than normal budburst. This was swiftly followed by a cold snap in the middle of April, slowing the growth right down. Allowing bambi ample opportunity to snack on the young shoots, particularily on the edges of the vineyard near the forest.

Our region was affected by a rather heavy frost mid-April, fortunately we had a lucky escape here in Ritoznoj, with only a small amount of damage to a few vines lower down the hill. Just goes to show what an awesome location Ritoznoj actually is!

It was a wet flowering, and in general a wet beginning of the season, which meant we had to be vigilant as there was higher disease pressure than normal. We were agressive in shoot thinning early in the cycle which helped a lot in that regard. A hot summer followed.

There were massive hail storms around Slovenska Bistrica at the beginning of July, once again, somehow Ritoznoj got lucky, with almost no damage to our vineyards.

Crop levels were perfect, the early season frost, wet flowering and agressive shoot thinning resulting in a lower than normal crop level, meaning I could skip crop thinning on almost all blocks, as it was naturally cropping right where I wanted it.

Harvest was ridiculously early, the earliest in my time here in Slovenia. We started with Pinot Noir on the 5^th of September. That’s two weeks earlier than what I would consider normal for our vineyards. But what is normal anymore? Climate change is throwing more and more extreme weather events our way, and that’s on top of generally warmer winters and wetter summers, making the business of farming in this small slice of the world harder and harder.

It was over in a flash. With the exception of Syrah, harvest was done by the 11^th of September. The cellar was cramped by the end, with everything essentially coming in at once. The grapes were in very good condition, with good sugar levels and solid acidity, though pH levels in Pinot noir were a little bit higher than I would have liked. Otherwise, I was very happy.

Syrah came off on the 23^rd of September. Looking beautiful. Maybe the best this vineyard has ever looked, I have big expectations for this wine, as always though, time will tell. 100% whole bunches as we normally do. Spicy! All the wines were pressed off and tucked away in barrel by early October.

Leaving plenty of time for a holiday in Thailand. Sometimes this winemaking gig really is a hard life.