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Most of the 65 self-marketing wineries and the three cooperatives in the growing region have been hit hard by the flood disaster. This is what Dr Knut Schubert, managing director of the Ahr winegrowers' association, said when asked.
"In a rough estimate, we assume that one and a half harvests have been lost in the wine cellars. With an average annual production of around four million litres in the Ahr, this corresponds to a value of 50 million euros," Schubert calculates.
The situation is currently "dramatic". Even a week after the disaster, there is often neither electricity nor running water. The winegrowers are in the process of sifting through the stocks and warehouses - but steel tanks and even bottles have remained intact in isolated cases. "The remaining quantities are being salvaged and are also marketable, but it is still too early for that," reports the association's managing director.
336 buildings destroyed in Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler
The approximately six-metre high flood wave of the otherwise narrow Ahr river caused enormous destruction throughout the valley and cost many lives. According to information from the German Wine Institute (DWI), two female winegrowers were swept away by the flood. They had clung to a tree for seven hours until firefighters were able to rescue them by boat. Exact figures on damage, injuries and deaths are not yet available. According to a first satellite-based damage assessment for buildings by the Joint Reporting and Situation Centre, the flood in Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, for example, completely destroyed 336 buildings, 687 were partly severely damaged and 2791 "possibly damaged". Among them are many wine-growing businesses. The Mayschoss winegrowers' cooperative, for example, wrote on Facebook: "At the moment we don't know what to do next. (...) The entire building of the WG has been destroyed, and we currently don't know where we should help and start first."
According to Schubert, only very few winegrowers have taken out insurance against natural hazards. Therefore, he says, the farms are actually dependent on donations and support from the Farmers' Relief Fund. "The winegrowers urgently need economic and unbureaucratic help," emphasised Knut Schubert.
"We have to secure the 2021 harvest".
The most important concern at the moment is "to secure the 2021 harvest in order to remain marketable". Although there have also been losses in the vineyards in the valley locations, the steep slopes are intact and must be cared for. "The harvest starts in eight weeks, and after that we have to develop and market the 2021 wine," Schubert explained. Plant protection is currently at the top of the agenda, he said, with an operations team currently coordinating the foliage work and the application of plant protection products. In addition, many volunteers from abroad have come to the Ahr.
"Where the wines can be vinified this year is still written in the stars," he added. No one currently has an overview of which cellars can even be repaired after the clean-up, he said. "We have already spoken with colleagues from the Middle Rhine and the Moselle. We also have to take into account the legal aspects of winegrowing," says Schubert. The German Winegrowers' Association and the regional associations are already working on a solution. "The solidarity is enormous," says Schubert.
( ru /Source: wein.plus - Photo: Winzergenossenschaft Mayschoss)