Harvest 2026 at Baron Longo: An Early Vintage and New Life on the Estate

The last grapes have been brought into the cellar and harvest 2026 at Baron Longo in Neumarkt/Egna, South Tyrol, is complete. It was an exceptionally early vintage, bringing the growing season to a close sooner than usual across our vineyards, from the valley floor to our highest sites at 1,050 metres above sea level.

Harvest is always a point of transition. Months of work in the vineyard come to an end, while something entirely new begins in the cellar. Decisions become quieter, the pace changes and the attention shifts from the vines to what is slowly taking shape inside each barrel and tank.

This year, the first impressions are already particularly interesting.

As Anton Felix von Longo-Liebenstein explains:

“The first wines of the new vintage are already showing a clearly defined character: slightly less alcohol thanks to the earlier harvest, beautiful sapidity and, at the same time, plenty of softness. It is surprising to see how, even at this early stage, the vintage is beginning to show a personality of its own.”

From the vineyards of South Tyrol to the cellar

The vineyards of Baron Longo cover an unusually broad range of elevations. Around Neumarkt, vines grow on the warmer valley floor, while our highest vineyards reach 1,050 metres into the Trudner Horn Nature Park. Differences in altitude, temperature, exposure and soil mean that harvest never happens everywhere at once.

Our work in these vineyards follows biodynamic principles and is Demeter-certified. Throughout the growing season, the objective is not to force uniformity, but to accompany each site as closely as possible and allow the conditions of the year to remain visible in the resulting wines.

The early harvest of 2026 has naturally influenced the character of the new vintage. Lower alcohol, freshness, sapidity and softness are already emerging as recurring elements, although the wines are still at the very beginning of their development.

There is plenty of time before they will tell their complete story.

Seven new arrivals at Baron Longo

Meanwhile, the vineyards were not the only part of the estate following their own natural rhythm.

At almost exactly the same time as the 2026 vintage was making its way into the cellar, seven piglets were born at Baron Longo.

Within only a few days, they were already exploring their surroundings, feeding alongside their mother and becoming a small but very visible part of everyday life on the estate.

It may seem like a minor detail in the middle of harvest, but it captures something essential about this time of year. A winery is never only about what happens inside the cellar. The vineyards, animals, soils, weather and people all move through the seasons together.

While one growing cycle has now come to an end, another has already begun.

The 2026 wines will spend the coming months developing quietly in the cellar. Outside, autumn is arriving in the vineyards.

And seven very small residents have started discovering Baron Longo for themselves.