All together, 2006 was a year of above-average temperatures, very low precipitation and unseasonal weather, although the winter was a real one with several days with frost or continuous subzero temperatures. The cold weather with dominant high pressure zones kept the precipitation largely at bay in the first two months of the year. At the end of a cold February, spring still seemed a long way away, and March remained very much in the grip of winter, too. The persistent cold and dry northerly winds and unusually low temperatures made it a long dormant season. April was its usual capricious self, with warm days alternating with rain and snow at the higher altitudes. Thanks to the limited drop in temperatures, however, the late start to the vegetation period was largely compensated by the end of the month. In May, the temperatures slowly but surely started to climb, but precipitation was again low, and by June the soil was very dry from the lack of rain. Nor was there much precipitation almost up to the end of July, which was one of the warmest in the last four decades. At the end of the month, however, the heavens opened to deliver urgently needed water to the vegetation, and the rain continued well into August, which was mainly cold and wet and brought little in the way of summer weather. The cooler summer and above all a dry and sun-blessed October ensured that the grapes could mature under optimum conditions.