Vintage	Points	Weather Conditions and Particularities
1945	10	THE vintage of the century. Very early spring, early blossoming beginning of June. It was the end of World-War II, and the men were still not home from war and work was left for women and children and some old men. There was also a lack of weed and pest control, and a large amount of the crop was destroyed by Peronospera (downy mildew), but the remaining grapes were excellent. Definitely one of the greatest vintages ever gathered in Germany. The wines were powerful, greatly structured, many of them with noble rot and finesse. Just ideal.
1946	8	Uncomplicated weather. Also work in the vineyards normalised. Medium quantity of good quality.
1947	6	An extreme year. Very cold winter, very little rain during the summer with very high temperatures. The dryness hindered the grapes to produce a great quality, which resulted in a just above average.
1948	3	Cool, miserable summer. Quantity-wise satisfactory, but quality was unader average. A comparatively small yield.
1949	10	More or less ideal conditions of vegetation for the grapes, resulting in wines with pronounced noble rot in good sites. Early blossoming, starting June 8th. The quantity was below average. The wines were highly concentrated and perfectly balanced. A great vintage!
1950	4	Ideal ripening of bearing wood because of the wonderful foregoing autumn weather. Good setting of buds and thus biggest quantity ever achieved. Quality-wise average.
1951	3	Cool summer, wet autumn, resulted in a quality-wise small vintage, of however high quantity.
1952	6	A good, normal Rheinhessen summer, which gave us an average vintage in quantity as well as quality. Typical for this year: very fruity wines.
1953	10	Partly desasterous frosts in May, followed by an early blossoming and ideal vegetation conditions up to the harvest. Great qualities, and despite the losses from frost damages reasonable quantities.
1954	5	Rainy summer, but still an average quality. Quantity normal.
1955	3	Again heavy frost damages in May. A rather miserable summer gave us a small yield with qualities below average.
1956	1	Beginning of winter was rather mild, but in February the temperature dropped to minus 25° Celsius in the middle of Rheinhessen. The River Rhine was frozen. Very unfavourable weather conditions in summer, a lengthy harvest with continuous bad weather gave us unripe grapes and thus an unripe vintage.
1957	6	A rather cold winter was followed by an early spring, which was interrupted beginning and end of May from frost periods, resulting in a small crop, but average quality.
1958	4	Late spring with extreme long blossoming-time. Changeable summer weather gave us rather high yields but not the best qualities, with, however, fresh wines.
1959	10	Since many years at last a great vintage! A mild spring with temperatures as normally in summer. Extremely early blossoming starting already June 3rd. Ideal weather conditions during harvest. In October blossoming grapes were found on lateral shoots – very unusual. The quality was unique, however slightly low acidity causes problems for the wine-maker. The wines were powerful with body but hardly an Botrytis. Actually a tragedy for this great vintage.
1960	4	Warm, early spring with rather early blossoming, followed by a cold, rainy July and August. Late harvest with up to now unknown quantities, with caused problems in storage. Low qualities were gathered with big problems for the wine maker.
1961	5	Early spring, cool May and delayed blossoming followed by changeable summer weather. Average quantity of average quality. Rather spicy wines.
1962	7	Spring was cool, resulting in a late and lengthy blossoming. Beautiful summer months were followed by a beautiful autumn, but the warm weather could not make up for the late blossoming. Only average quantity.
1963	6	Vegetation during the first 6 months without any problems. August was too cool and destroyed all hopes for a fine harvest. The weather cleared up in September, but it resulted only in an average quality. Quantity-wise satisfactory.
1964	9	A good up to very good vintage, in quality as well as in quantity. Early spring, very early blossoming. Silent summer-weather, hardly any rain. A rather lengthy harvest.
1965	1	Heavy rains in spring. Floods from the Rhine in mid-June. Late blossoming, changeable weather in August and September. Late harvest with unwanted Eiswein beginning of November from unripe grapes, because of very early frosts. In all, a very unripe vintage.
1966	8	After a friendly, mild spring we are happy about an early blossoming which was followed by changeable summer-weather and beautiful weather in September and early October. A quality-wise great vintage and yield slightly below average.
1967	8	The vintage 1967 is considered as THE typical "Botrytis-vintage" in the history of vintages. Light summer-weather was followed by an average blossoming time. In July we were donated with lots of sunshine, but in August we had more rain than usual. The heavy Botrytis attack gave us highest qualities, but great problems in vinification. Average quantities.
1968	2	In general a rainy year. Quiet spring and late blossoming, rainy August with 192 Litre rain per square meter (average is 67 l/qm rain in August). An unripe vintage. The only highlight was the big quantity.
1969	7	Late spring, then suddenly high temperatures in April, and again frost in May. Late blossoming starting June 26th, but in summer ideal vegetation conditions. In turn sunny days and rain falls until the harvest. The quality was above average and also the quantity was sufficient.
1970	5	Quantity records of average quality. Rainy spring with floods from the Rhine in mid-May. Rather late blossoming. Calm, often cool summer-weather with hail-storms beginning of September. The high yield reduces the quality.
1971	10	Warm summer-weather already in April forced the vegetation and lead to an extreme blossoming. Well-balanced summer-weather granted us with above average, really fantastic vintage. Great harmony in acidity and residual sweetness. – The new German Wine Law became valid. Official quality control was established.
1972	2	Spring just did not want to come. End of April temperatures were still minus 5° Celsius. Blossoming was very late. Unfavourable vegetation conditions. A small, unripe vintage, which did not mature. Quantity average.
1973	6	The vintage 1973 was the biggest in quantity ever. After a calm winter and calm spring the blossoming started considerably late. The quantity was large, the quality average. The low acidity pronounced the character of the wine. Extremely good Eisweins.
1974	5	A very mild spring and an early summer with early blossoming. Changeable July and August lead to an average quality but rather small quantity.
1975	8	January and February were mild, but snow fell on Easter. Blossoming started late. July and August were both sunny and rainy and went over into a calm autumn. Good up to very good qualities, partly Botrytis, partly unpleasant Trichothecium in the vineyards. A good vintage, although with problems for the wine maker.
1976	10	Early blossoming, although not as early as 1971 or 1959. Following ideal July and August and the wonderful September lead to the perfect harmony of this vintage. Quantities of Beerenauslese and Trockenbeerenauslese far above normal. For the first time, and up to now not repeated, we bottled Trockenbeerenauslese in magnums.
1977	4	Dreary, wet and cool weather until beginning of April. Despite the following beautiful June blossoming was late. Rainy August and September lead us to give up all hopes for a fine vintage. Quality was small, quantity, however, big.
1978	5	The long winter went over into a rainy spring. End of May floods from the Rhine. Blossoming late, similar to 1977, End June up to middle of July. Rain stayed with us, and thus we had floods again in mid-August. The quality was average, the quantity below average. Despite of this the wines were lively with a fresh acidity.
1979	7	January and February were cold and in mid-March we had floods from the Rhine. Blossoming started June 15th and quiet summer weather went over into a very sunny September. The quantity was satisfying, the quality good to very good, well-balanced in ripeness and acidity.
1980	5	A year of extreme character. At first we were still happy about the Eiswein gathered in mid January from vintage 1979, but then a very cold period followed, which concerned us very much. May was beautiful, June and July changeable which lead to an extreme lengthy blossoming from End of June to end of July with great losses in developing grapes. Low quality, average quantity.
1981	4	The cold winter did great harm to the vines. Early blossoming, changeable summer weather. Low qualities, average quantity.
1982	3	A year with records in quantities. Strong winter, late spring, then exploding heat and early blossoming. Calm, warm summer weather went over in a rainy October. The quality was poor on account of the enormous quantities.
1983	8	After a comparatively mild winter we had lots of rain with floods in April up to the end of May. Beautiful July and August, but the following weeks were too dry to help the grapes to ripen to perfection. Still very good quality and rather high quantity.
1984	2	It was the coldest spring since 50 years. Mid-February, very unusual, floods from the Rhine. Vegetation came slow and it did not surprise that blossoming started as late as beginning and mid July. Ripening period was too short to get only some kind of quality. In late autumn we gathered rather unripe grapes, which due to the cellar-master’s skill were drinkable.
1985	7	Rather strong winter with partly heavy losses in the vineyards. Late spring and thus late blossoming. The small crop is ripening despite the unfavourable summer satisfactorily and gave us in the end a good vintage.
1986	6	Again a very cold winter, and again losses because of frost in the vineyards. Summer was early, blossoming too, but then the weather became changeable, September rather cold, which gave us only a comparatively small quality. Quantity is sufficient.
1987	4	Another very cold winter with heavy frost. Late spring, blossoming end of June/beginning of July. Changeable, cool summer, beautiful September and October, which in the end saved the vintage, however, the quality and quantity were disappointing.
1988	7	A mild winter with only few days with frost, but lots of snow. The temperature of the Rhine was mid January still plus 5º Celsius. Floods end of March. Mid June blossoming started, followed by a rainy, cool weather period. Summer lasted only from mid-July to mid-August. Grape-harvest started end of September at changeable, rainy weather. Healthy acidity helped us to a wine good for ageing.
1989	9	The second winter in turn with hardly any frost went over into an early spring. Blossoming started June 14th. During a beautiful summer the grapes were ripening to an above average vintage. The healthy grapes satisfied not only in quality but also in quantity. Since 1976 we could gather for the first time again a Trockenbeerenauslese with 180º and 202º Oechsle.
1990	8	Again a too mild winter with floods and very heavy storms in February and beginning of March. End of May temperatures as in summer helped the vines to start blossoming as early as end of May, but a cool and rainy June spoiled it all. During calm summer weather the grapes ripened up to an outstanding quality, but the quantity is small, because of lack of rain in July and August. Good acidity gave us hearty and long-lasting wines. The third excellent vintage in succession.
1991	6	The long dry period from April to beginning of September gave the vintage 1991 its special note. A small yield was expected, but the late rain filled the grapes, specially with the early ripening varieties. Low acidity and still lower pH marks made the young wines appear more sour than was expected because of the total acidity.
1992	9	Ideal vegetation starting with a cold winter, followed by a cool, wet spring which went over into a beautiful summer with temperatures up to 39º Celsius in the shadow, and in-between steady light rain, as the vines like it in-between, went over into a mild, fine, early autumn. This helped the grapes to ripen in quality and quantity. We gathered Trockenbeerenauslese in the Oppenheimer Herrenberg and Oppenheimer Sackträger with up to 228º Oechsle, and many great Spät- and Ausleses.
1993	9	A mild winter with comparatively high temperatures in March and April. A quick, ideal blossoming starting end of May gave us an advance in vegetation against the average from 20 days. In late summer we had problems with lack of rain, which prevented records in quantity. Also the continuous rain in September (117 l/qm), three times as much as the average, could not make up for the earlier losses. But the very small berries with little juice and high must weights gave us great, clean wines with lots of inner ripeness. Our Spätburgunder brought, after 50% thinning in July, 100º Oechsle, and the small test-vineyard of Cabernet Sauvignon in its second year brought 88º Oechsle.
1994	6	A mild winter with lots of rain in January and February. End of May/beginning of June again a cold, wet period. Mid June blossoming started and lasted until till beginning of July. After that time we had great heat with losses in the vineyards from dryness specially in Nierstein. September was again very rainy. At the beginning of the harvest a fine weather period started. In Nierstein with the drier soil we gathered mainly Q.b.A. wines, while in Oppenheim, with the heavier soil, which kept the moisture for a longer period, we gathered ripe Spät- and Ausleses, Silvaner and Gewürztraminer up to 104º Oechsle.
1995	4	A mild winter with above average rain, specially during the first months. We expected an early bud-burst, resulting from high temperatures up to April, but the extremely wet soil prevented a quick warm-up. Frost damages in May and a late blossoming, later hail in August limited the quantity. July was very hot. On August 24th started a 6-weeks rainy period. Grapes rotted on the vine as hardly ever before. A year for Botrytis, and a vintage with considerable problems for the wine-maker. 40% less quantity than in average years. An "envious" harvest.
1996	7	The year started cool and dry up to spring. Blossoming started mid-June and lasted for 3 weeks. The weather stayed changeable. In the first ten months of the year we had a deficiency of rain of 100 mm. 470 mm of rain is the average, we had only 73 mm. Summer was more or less not very warm, and the dryness stopped the development of the vines, specially in the cool nights in June, July and August. But then the rain came still in time in mid-September and beginning of October, and especially the sun in October. (122 hours. Average is 97 hours.) The grapes were healthy, and we could wait with the harvest. The quantity was again short, but the qualities were Kabinett- and Spätlese wines.
1997	7	Winter was cold and dry with temperatures as low as minus 18º Celsius. Three very hot summer months with little rainfall pre-vented that we could gather really top qualities. The heavy soil in Oppenheim held the water longer than the sandy soil in Nierstein meaning that we measured up to 15º Oechsle more in Nierstein.
1998	6,5	The lowest temperature of the year was January 28th, when we finally could gather our Eiswein with 160º Oechsle. A wet and cold spring prevented a speedy blossoming, in fact it lasted for 5 weeks. Mid-July up to end of August the temperatures were extremely high, up to 40º Celsius. We had sunshine up to 13 hours per day. The result was a phenomenon: The grapes were sun-burned. The rain we had been waiting for the whole year came in September (103 mm, average 45 mm) and in October (150 mm, average 41 mm). Despite of this we could gather fine, typical Rivaner, Silvaner, and for the first time Weissburgunder and Grauburgunder. More than half of the crop consisted of harmonious Rieslings, also of Spätlese degree.
1999	7,5	A good bud-burst and nearly ideal weather conditions gave the foundation for a great vintage. Despite cluster-thinning beginning of August we gathered big quantities. But the changeable weather end of September damaged specially the Müller-Thurgau grapes. The late-ripening grapes favoured from the drier weeks prior to harvest and we gathered spicy Kabinett wines, great Spätleses and Ausleses up to Scheurebe Trockenbeerenauslese. The 1999 Silvaner Eiswein could only be gathered as late as January 26th 2000 at minus 11º Celsius.
2000	6	January and February were cold, followed by a warm, rainy March. In April we had sun and rain in the ideal mixture and vegetation was 2-3 weeks above normal. Weather conditions were ideal until end of June. July, however, was the coldest July since temperatures were measured, 1946, 15,8º Celsius against the long-term average of 20º Celsius. Plenty of rain during this summer, 124 mm against 54 mm average. September, the important ripening month, was too wet and cool. Grapes went rotten, mainly the Müller-Thurgau, which could only be prevented with spraying against mould. Despite of all these difficulties we could gather 95% of the crop as Prädikat-musts.
2001	6,5	After a wet and cold spring the bud-burst was rather late, but complete. March was very wet, April rather cool, on April 14 even frost of minus 2,2º Celsius. The remaining months were average, except a disappointing September. Three weeks cool and wet, which did not help the vegetation, but the grapes started to rot. In October the weather changed and saved the vintage. Harvest lasted several weeks in this golden October and we got clean, aromatic wines with healthy acidity. The quantity was smaller than expected, but the quality more than satisfying. – On December 12th we gathered our great Silvaner Eiswein at minus 11º Celsius and 185º Oechsle. Its name: Felix, the first grand-son of the Guntrum family, 12th generation.
2002	8	Sunny and moist, that was the weather in 2002. Temperature and rain were average, vegetation normal. Normal blossoming, fast development of the grapes which layed the ground for high yield and good qualities, which was confirmed in the harvest. From healthy grapes we got high quality wines with must-weights between 85º Oechsle and 105º Oechsle. On December 11th we harvested 400 Litres of Eiswein with 175º Oechsle at minus 12º Celsius.
2003	10	Vintage 2003 has set new meteorological standards for Germany, with highest temperatures and unusual amounts of sunshine hours, but very little precipitation. Bud burst was normal, blossoming started early in June, approximately two weeks ahead of the normal schedule. The Department of Oenology and Viticulture at Geisenheim University announced 1.140 hours of sunshine at the end of June – 840 hours being normal. By November 30th, we only had 312 mm of precipitation, which was 183 mm less than long term average! By the end of the year we still only had 314 mm of rain. The saying: "Small Rhine, Great Wine" definitely hit it – very low water levels of the Rhein river, but great qualities in the vineyards. By the end of July, vegetation was 2-3 weeks ahead of its average development. It was the hottest August since 1946 with an average temperature of 23,9°C (75°F), long term average being 19,3°C (66,7°F). Precipitation in August was only 24 mm, normal average being 56 mm. Well-kept, deep vineyards did not mind the dryness. Grape juice qualities were usually above Spätlese level and all the way up to – Trockenbeerenauslese! Quantity, however, was 15 % - 20 % less than average. The very strict German wine law fortunately was changed just in time to allow acidification – urgently needed to adjust very low natural acidity levels in the juice. A practice applied and well experienced around the world.
2004	7	2004 provided us with a lot of sunshine - once again! 1996 hours of sunshine in 2004 was more than 25 % above the long-term average of 1557 hours per year. Downside of this blessing was very limited precipitation, which reached only 456 ml, well below the long-term average and just slightly above 314 ml, which we reached in 2003. 153 days of rain and snow we counted in Nierstein and Oppenheim in 2004. 10,6° C (51° F) was the average annual temperature. Temperatures reached 33° C (91° F) on August 5th, 2004, the highest temperature during the year and on December 21st, 2004, temperatures did not raise beyond minus 7° C (19° F) during the day - it was the morning of our Eiswein harvest! Harvest started on October 4th and went until November 6th, including Beerenauslese and Trockenbeerenauslese, and excluding Eiswein. Regular precipitation and a fabulous Indian Summer - Altweibersommer - in September and October granted us with excellent qualities and very healthy grapes. Ripeness levels of the grapes reached Auslese quality for the most part, well above 90° Oechsle (22° Brix). Thus the ripeness of the grapes was almost as good as during the socalled "Vintage of the century 2003". However, acidity levels are significantly higher in 2004, which will make this vintage much more of a classical vintage with great ageability. On December 21st we completed harvest 2004 with a fantastic Silvaner Eiswein. Harvested at minus 10° C (14° F) it reached 168° Oechsle (40° Brix), a most precious gift of Nature and a delightful drink!
2005	7	Harvest at Louis Guntrum estate started unusually early on September 21st . following a summer of unsteady climatic conditions. Early ripening grapes like Müller-Thurgau, Silvaner, Scheurebe and Pinot grapes were harvested into early October, while Riesling and Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir) followed towards the end of October, enjoying beautiful "Indian Summer" conditions with warm and dry weather - perfect ripening and harvest conditions. Harvest terminated on November 6th with the final round for 2005 Niersteiner Oelberg Riesling Beeren-auslese and Trockenbeerenauslese. All in all, 2005 vintage provides wines with great balance and for every-day usuage.

To top

and our internal rating by points from 1-10