European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - November 14, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Germany s Saturn Vintage fruity and harmonious by Mary Neth consumer editor very year Germany s vintners look la the heavens and Hope Lor More fan the Besl will the right amount of Sun and rain add up to a great Vintage year one equal to Hose of 1971 or 1976? their Hopes hinge on the maturing of inc grape ripeness at Harvest is the key 1c Vineyard a alms to nomenclature to Price Wilh so much depending upon the weal her. Is i any wonder that some wine growers nol Only keep an Eya on the sky. Bul become involved in Star study too Gena publishers the largest wino Label company in the country came Oul this year Wilh Das Astro Busti the Astro both Lor ils Vineyard owner customers. Ii could l be a belter year Lor the new Book which deals Wilh astrology and its effects on people weather and wine. For the vintners hardly a year has bean As unpredictable As 1986. Low temperatures in january were followed by a cold and Wel Spring and everyone was reconciled to a poor Harvest then warm weather in june followed by moderate rainfall in july turned the whole picture around. Ii appeared there might be a record crop. Next however came four weeks of super dry weather and growth in the vineyards came to a standstill. To complicate mailers further in Many growing areas the period of drought was followed by violent storms and a dramatic drop in temperature by the beginning of september it seemed that despite the setbacks there would be an above average crop nonetheless 1986 would not be known As a particularly Good wine year. A a said the astrology Isle knowingly the plane Saturn symbolizing the Slu Borness of old age rules the skies and that s never been a super sign Lor wine " according tothe Astro Book Saturn years generally Are Chilly with a couple of very dry months thrown in and lots of rain in August and he fall this does t add up to Good harvests to the last 103 years wines produced in Saturn years have been 16 percent below average in Quality. Now however Enol her month has passed and the German wine Institute harvesting of Tome 1998 Gorman Gratt began in september. Reports thai the 198e wines Are decreasing in Quantity but increasing in qualify. The grapes already harvested show a healthy and Ripe acidity which will mean fruity and harmonious  it appears that nol Only is the weather undependable but astrology too but Here is a fact you can Bank on prices for older German vintages will be higher. The week it was Learned that there would t is a bumper 19b6 Harvest prices Tor older villages climbed 20 percent. Another inter Sling note last year s Vintage far better in Quality than average promises to hold up Weil on the future wine Market and the 1984 wines listed As Hearty and refreshing now have been stored Long enough to be Ideal Lor drinking. French wines 86 not extraordinary by Frank j. Prial new York times except for a few vines in Alsace and a few in sauternes. The 1966 Harvest in France is Over. This is the time of year when the winegrowers lunching with their Bankers mutter and grumble about the wine writers if the writers have had the audacity to suggest that the wines May nol be very Good. What do they know the growers demand rhetorically. We be been doing this All our lives and we can t Tell How the wine is going to turn  that s How it would go in bad years to Good years. The wretched scribblers would be hailed for their perspicacity in recognizing so Early on that 1934 or 1985 or f986 is Mirabile Dilu another year of the Century. There is no year of the Century talk this autumn partly because in s bad policy and partly because while he wines Are Good they Don t seem extraordinary. Someone was saying the other Day thai the new Bordeaux resemble the 1979$ and the 1981s there has even been some talk of their resembling the 1975 Vintage. This is a bit amusing because when that Vintage was released it was solidly predicted that few people alive then would be around to drink it Whan it was ready. The 1975s Are still not ready. As far As anyone can Tell and there Are a lot of things one can Tell about a new crop of grapes or wine the 1986s should be Good solid drinkable wines in a few years. Although he weather conditions in Bordeaux were not optimal they were More than adequate to produce a very Large Vintage of Good and occasionally excellent wine. A Large Vintage of Good and occasionally excellent wine does that have a familiar ring it should we be been hearing it or some version of it for almost a decade. With the exceptions of 1977 and 1984. There has t been an indifferent year in Bordeaux in More than a decade some vintages 1973,1962, 1963 and 1985 have been very Good indeed. Consequently there is a great Deal of Good wine to be had in the cellars of Bordeaux and in retail shops around the world. As is so often the Case the Bordeaux Trade or some of it Rolls blithely along asking for More Money Lor ils wines than Many people Are prepared to pay particularly when they know thai Supply is rapidly out reaching demand. To a in the heart of the Champagne country Christian Biol the president of Champagne Bolinger characterized 1986 As an average year. The chardonnay grapes were Good in Quality and mediocre in Quantity he said White the Pinol noir and Munler grapes were plentiful but less impressive in  chardonnay grapes Are White and Pinol noir and Meunier Are red. For Bolinger at Bast 1986 will not be a Vintage year. Which Means that most other houses will also consider this a Reserve wine year. Reserve wine is the Champagne used in non Vintage blends Bolinger like most Ether Champagne producers has excellent Reserve stocks of wine in its cellars. The principal problem with Champagne these Days is Price. Bellinger s Witt go up by 12 percent shortly which when coupled with the fall of the Dollar end Price increases Over the past to years Means that Champagne is Back in or very close to the luxury category again. In Burgundy it looks like a Good year for the while wines and a not so Good year Lor the reds. The wine makers Are using hat great Catchall phrase one will have to choose carefully which of course is a euphemistic Way of saving there is a lot of wine that should nol be chosen at All. Bul except for the fortunate Lew what does it Mailer the prices of Burgundy Are so High that discussions of the wines Are mostly academic. Rot wat i big problem in Burgundy this year it was not in Beaujolais. The wines Are plentiful and fruity bul not As Rich As they were in 1985, the first of them the primers or Nouveau wines will to in the shops soon. Generally it Wilt be a Good commercial Vintage with a few highlights among the crus or town name Beaujolais such As Morgon Fleurie and Chi roubles. In Chablis and Alsace two relatively Northern Vineyard areas the talk is of Good average wines that Are not in the class of the 1965s or for Alsace of the 1983s. Jean Kogej of the famous huge firm told an interviewer he would rate the Vintage 14 or 15 an a scale of 20, Page 16 the stars and stripes Friday november 14,1986