Grape Production Down 10%, 2009 Vintage Expected to be Excellent

This year’s vintage promises to be excellent, but a 10% lower crop is expected than the average, said Head Secretary of the National Council of Wine Communities (HNT) Csaba Horváth. In 2009, 500,000 to 550,000 tons of grapes are expected to be harvested in Hungary, which means 300 million liters of wine will be produced, writes napi.hu, based on an MTI report. Some 60% of this year’s harvest had been snipped by the end of September, so the picking season could stretch on into late October, if the grapes haven’t been blown away by then. For some hands-on info on winemaking in Hungary, the latest on this year’s harvest and more cute pics like that to the left, check out Patrick Pince’s excellent blog.