grapelord, Wine Harvest Kicks Off to a running start (or flying start )

The Grapelord of Napa Faces a Threat Worse Than Plague By BEN RYDER HOWE For 50 years, Andy Beckstoffer drove up the price of wine. Did the strategy work too well?

The noun flying start has 2 meanings:
Meaning #1: a racing start in which the contestants are already in full motion when they pass the starting line
Synonym: running start
running start
An initial advantage, as in His background in biochemistry gave him a running start in the field of genetics. This expression alludes to track events such as the running broad jump, in which one begins moving before reaching the actual take-off point. [1920s] Also see under get off the ground.

Meaning #2: a quick and auspicious beginning
Synonym: running start

kick·off (kĭk'ôf', -ŏf')
n.

1. Football. A place kick in football that starts play at the beginning of a half or after a team has scored.
2. Sports.
   1. A kick of a stationary ball from the middle of the field in soccer that starts play at the beginning of a half or after a goal has been scored.
   2. A similar kick in Rugby.
3. Informal. A beginning: the kickoff of a charity campaign.

Germans Wine Harvest Kicks Off to a Flying Start

Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: The early start to summer have caused an early harvest begin

It's going to be a great year for German wine, following an early and plentiful start to the 2007 grape harvest, the country's winegrowing association said.

"We are entering an excellent year," Norbert Weber, the association's president, said in Weisenheim am Berg in the center of the Palatinate winegrowing region south of Frankfurt.

Thursday marked the official start of the grape harvest, with growers hoping the current dry spell will last, so that they can make use of the early ripening this year to lock in all the aromas and flavors the grapes have to offer.

The German Wine Institute (DWI), based in Mainz to the north of Weisenheim am Berg, is predicting a national crop of around 10 million hectoliters (264 million gallons), up 13 percent on last year and 5 percent on the 10-year average.

Earliest recorded harvest

Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Almost all of Germany's 13 official winegrowing regions are expecting a good harvest

The grapes have ripened 10 days to a fortnight earlier than usual this year. Weber said his 85-year-old father could not recall a start to the harvest as early as this year's.

Must levels -- the level of juice in the pressed grapes -- were considerable higher than in previous years, he said.

Working in the wine growers' favor this year is a relative shortage of wines caused by a spoiled harvest last year following heavy rains.

"After two years of relatively low harvests and at the same time increasing demand for German wines both in and outside the country, our wine growers' cellars are quite bare," said DWI manager, Monika Reule.

Growing German wine market

While not as well known abroad as their French and Italian counterparts, German wines enjoy considerable popularity in their home market, with a market share of just over 50 percent.

Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Riesling is the most widespread wine in Germany

Exports are growing, however. In the period July 2006 to June 2007, German wine volume exports rose 18 percent on the year, while the value of exports increased by 24 percent.

There some 80,000 winegrowers in Germany, growing as many as 140 different varieties. The country is still primarily grows white wines, although the area planted with red grape varieties has increased by nearly 40 percent in the past 15 years.

Riesling and Müller-Thurgau are the predominant white wines, while Spätburgunder (the German name for Pinot Noir) and Dornfelder are the main reds.

DW staff /dpa (kh)