Mixed blessings for the class of 2011

The 2011 grape harvest across Europe has been a varied one, with grape health threatened in many areas thanks to an inclement summer – although there has recently been a hot spell in southern Europe. Klaus Peter Keller reports that he started picking his Rheinhessen Pinot Noir last Thursday and that the Verdejo harvest for the Ossian Rueda project in Spain began on Saturday. (Keller is working with Javier Zaccagnini and Mariano García to make a 'Riesling-like' Verdejo from very old, ungrafted vines, using a big old Mosel barrel for ageing.) The following reports have been sent to us from producers who seem...