The Uue-Saaluse Winery in Võru County is not satisfied with this year's grape harvest. It will only make fruit and berry wines this year.

"This year's harvest has been extremely poor, due to the spring frosts and also because the birds have been very hungry. We mostly specialize in fruit wines and berry wines and they make up a good three-quarters of our production, so grape wine is a bit of a rarity, but we are lucky to still have some of last year's wines," said Maris Kivistik, the owner of the farm.

Preparation is already underway for next year's crop.

"The time for autumn work has arrived, a week after the leaves fall is the perfect time to start autumn pruning to prepare the plant for next year," said Mati Kivistik, owner of the Kõivsaare farm.

Jaan Kivistik, a long-time teacher and grape grower at the Räpina Gardening School, said it takes a lot of patience to find out which grape varieties can give the best yield in Estonia's climate.

"This summer, I did not notice many of the diseases that have plagued us for many years. We have the dangerous diseases of mildew and blight, which were almost absent this year, and that is why the foliage is still mostly intact on the vines and the autumn frosts have not destroyed the foliage. But the shoots have ripened well and so there is hope for a good harvest next year," he said.

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