Vintners Toast German Wine

7/30/2019 Vintners Toast German Wine

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Vintners Toast German Wine's PopularityRIESLING FROM THE RHINELAND AND OTHER DIVINE DROPS

1 Discounter Aldi Pulls Top German Vintners Into Low-Cost Fold

2 German Vintners Feel Squeeze From New World Wines

3 EU Winemakers Likely to Be Asked to Dig Up Some Vines

4 Vintners Toast German Wine's Popularity

5 Family Winery Cultivates the Grape for 27 Generations

6 The Wines They Are A-Changin'

7 Festivals in Germany for Wine Enthusiasts

8 A Cycle Trip and Tipple Along the Moselle

9 Wrzburg: Where Drinking Wine Is Like Praying

10 Mainz: Modernity Meets Tradition

11 Koblenz: Good For Getting Over Jet Lag


13 At String of Summits, Merkel Ready to Serve The Finest Wine

14 Seaweed Wine Hits Germany's Stores

15 'Little Red Riding Hood' Sparkling Wine Flying High

As the trade fair ProWein continues in Dsseldorf, Germany's wine industry has plenty to

celebrate: Exports are booming. Still, vintners worry about what the future may bring.

German wines have

been gaining in

popularity --

worldwide

It's a good time for

German wine.

Exports increased

last year to 475

million euros ($569

million), 10 percent

more than the previous year and the highest level they've been at since 1985 when an

Austrian wine scandal had a devastating knock-on effect in Germany. Britain remains

German wine's biggest importer followed by the US and the Netherlands. And consumers

have been devoting more attention to Germany's top wines, Riesling above all.

"The aficionados are in America first and foremost," said Prince Michael zu Salm-Salm,

head of Germany's fine wine association VDP. "A Riesling boom is underway in the

United States, a real renaissance. But the aficionados are also in southern Europe. In Italy,
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in Spain we're gaining momentum dramatically. And we can truly say that it's a

development that's beginning to have a worldwide effect."

The success of Riesling doesn't merely have to do with the grape's flavor, but also with

the increasing number of foreign journalists who give German wine good marks,

particularly wine guru Robert Parker.

Trouble brewing?

Despite the boom in exports, German vintners are troubled by a recent addition to a

winemaking agreement between the European Union and the United States. A coda to the

accord, added in March, allows the Americans to export wines to Europe that have been

chemically and physically treated using controversial techniques that are largely

prohibited in Europe.

Prince zu Salm-

Salm speaks for

Germany's quality

wine producers

"There are two

critical points to the

agreement," said

Monika

Christmann, an

expert on cellar

techniques at Geisenheim Technical College. "For one, that all future techniques, that

don't yet even exist, have been approved. That means that we must accept everything that

comes from America in the future, and with that, the Americans practically set the

standard worldwide. The second critical point is that an integral part of the agreement is

that all these techniques can be employed without declaring it on the label."

Thus, consumers won't be able to tell how a wine was treated and whether a wine labelled

as having been produced "according to the manner of a Johannisberg Riesling" is indeed

a Johannisberg Riesling.Power of the purse

Two figures are crucial in order to understand why the EU agriculture ministers agreed to

the deal: US wine exports to the EU were worth $325 million in 2005, while EU exports

to the US were valued at $2.6 billion.

But the agreement has caused quite a bit of hysteria in Europe, with a plethora of


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newspaper articles upbraiding so-called artificial or plastic wines from the US, and

largely demonstrating ignorance of the facts.

Politicians from the German neo-Nazi NPD party also took advantage of the controversy

to promote anti-American sentiments with their slogan "German wine instead of

American rotgut." German vintners ended up feeling like they had to defend the US at the

same time as criticizing it.

Differences in

cellar techniques

have some vintners

worried

"The fact is, all

over the world there

are vintners who

are craftsmen like

us, said zu Salm-

Salm. "And in

Europe, too, there are companies that are more used to working industrially."

"In America, it's basically accepted -- not in California, but in other parts of America -- to

add water to wine or to separate it with spinning doctor machines and then reconstruct it.

Naturally, that goes entirely against our understanding of wine. ... We're opposed to the

wine trade agreement and demand that improvements are made to it," he said.

The deadline for changes to the deal ends in three months. By then it will be clear

whether German vintners can save their designations of origin and whether it will become

obligatory to declare particular cellar techniques. But neither outcome is likely.DW.DE

EU Winemakers Likely to Be Asked to Dig Up Some VinesRIESLING FROM THE RHINELAND AND OTHER DIVINE DROPS

1 Discounter Aldi Pulls Top German Vintners Into Low-Cost Fold




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10 Mainz: Modernity Meets Tradition

11 Koblenz: Good For Getting Over Jet Lag12 Festivals in Germany for Wine Enthusiasts




Vintners in Europe are facing major reforms from 2008 that aim to cut production and

enable wineries to hold their own against tough competition from competitors in Chile

and Argentina.

Winemakers will beasked to change the

way they operate

The reform plans

are being finalized

by EU Agriculture

Commissioner

Mariann Fischer

Boel, who wants to

encourage producers to abandon some of the vineyards and put the focus on better quality

wines, thereby putting supply more in line with demand.

"I want to make a bold reform because just changing minor things wouldn't improve

anything," Fischer Boel told reporters at an informal meeting of EU agriculture ministers.

At present, the EU produces much more wine then it sells, resulting in huge "lakes" of

surplus product that Brussels spends millions of euros on to turn into undrinkable,

industrial alcohol and biofuels. A key area that will be targeted will be "grubbing up," or

digging up, vines by offering cash incentives for winemakers to abandon fields they don't

absolutely need to use.

The EU spends about 1.3 billion euros ($1.7 billion) a year on wine subsidies. The

planned reform, the first since 1999, would not change that amount. Instead, the plan

would redirect subsidies and use a carrot-and-stick approach to convince European

producers to rip up some of their vines, which amount for some 45 percent of the world's

vineyard area.
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Europe grows too

many of these for

current demand

The plan is due to

be published on

June 22. EU

governments and

the wine industry

will then have an

opportunity to

discuss the plan's various options until the autumn, when the European Commission will

draft a formal reform proposal for publication in December or January.

"Then we have the first half of 2007 to have an in-depth discussion with the member

states, and I hope we can manage to finalize it before summer 2007," Fischer Boel said.

"Then we need implementation, so that would be from 2008."

Supply and demand

The EU is the world's largest producer, consumer, exporter and importer of wine. But for

many years, subsidies have thrown the relationship between wine supply and demand off

balance, resulting in huge surpluses that could not be sold on the market. Fischer Boel has

often complained of the money the EU spends on "crisis distillation," as much as half a

billion euros per year ($642 million).

In the 1990s, EU winemakers began shifting their emphasis to producing higher-quality

wine, which closed the gap between supply and demand somewhat, but not as much as

Brussels would like to see.

Vintners will

probably be offered

cash to dig up some

fields

"In my view, whatwe need to do is to

spend more money

on marketing

wine,"

Luxembourg's


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agriculture minister, Fernand Boden, told reporters. "We have to use the money that's now

spent on distillation in a more intelligent way, to promote consumption."

Although Europe is still the major player on the global wine market, it has lost some of

its traditional export market in recent years to cheaper wines from countries like

Australia, Chile and the United States. The EU has also begun to import more.

"A reform has to restore European wine production to be competitive with imports that

we have seen from the new wine-producing countries," Fischer Boel said.

But she said she expects resistance from vintners, especially since winemaking has such

deep cultural roots in many regions.DW.DE

Where Now for German Wine?

As German vintners announce an above average 2002 harvest, the German wine lobby is

working to improve the beverage's image abroad.

Germans know how good their wine is - the rest of us apparently don't

There is no getting away from it. Next to the ABC (Anything But Chardonnay) rule,

bringing a bottle of Liebfraumilch or Blue Nun to a dinner party is the equivalent of

committing social suicid -- German wine has a bad reputation.

But now plans are afoot to change all this.The DeutschWeinVision 2020 is an attempt by the German wine industry to develop an

all-encompassing long-term strategy to improve prices for wine growers at home and

better the image of German wines abroad.

Although it is still a work in progress, the first results and recommendations are expected

by the end of the year.

Small vintners cant cover costs

The strategy has been necessitated by severe problems currently facing traditional wine

growers in Germany. Many, mostly smaller, vintners who make wine in traditional

wooden barrels are not able to demand prices for their product which enables them to

cover production costs.

As a result, larger, more commercially viable producers are overtaking the smaller wine

makers. Rudolph Nickenig, spokesperson for the German Wine Association (VDW) told

DW-WORLD the problem of low prices was threatening the very existence of small


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wine growers who produce top quality German wines.

Indeed, the number of smaller vintners has fallen dramatically over the past 30 years.

According to a government report published this month, Germany had 50,000 producers

in 1979. By 1999, the figure had fallen to 34,440.

German wine - It used to be more

Germans used to drink a higher percentage of domestically-produced wine, of course,

Nickenig told DW-WORLD. Although Germans now drink more wine than beer

downing a whopping 24 litres per head each year - only 45% of this is German wine. The

remaining 55% hails from the vineyards of Italy, Spain, France and Chile among others.

German wine drinkers tend to be quite adventurous theyre very curious of whats

happening in New World wines for example. Thats why there is such a market at the

moment for foreign wines," he said.

German wines have long faced a bad rap abroad, often regarded as overly sweet. The

German wine Black Tower was recently re-launched in the UK to great irony in the

British press; they found the attempt to re-brand the wine nothing if not rather amusing.

Nickenig wants a chance to change this image of the 2.4 million litres of German wine

exported each year.

Of course some German wines are sweet, but many are very dry as well. Due to the

climate, our grapes produce wines which have very fruity aromas in the main, he said.

Good year for German wine, a "good-value"

The warm spring in Germany this year as well as a summer which lasted right into the

end of September has meant vines have had longer than usual to ripen. The harvest has

been better than the average annual yield of 10 million hectare litres according to wine

experts.

Im always very sceptical about it when producers start talking about good years,

Nickenig told DW-WORLD, but the good weather has meant the grapes have a high

sugar content and that basically means theyll make good wine.

A good year for wine and better lobbying for producers might well be the mix that will

save Germanys wine growers from extinction, although changing clichs about certainGerman wines might well prove more of a challenge.

On that subject Joachim Basler wanted to make one thing clear. Black Tower and

Liebfraumilch really arent that bad, you know, he said. And I wouldnt call them

cheap; more good-value."DW.DE


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Second-Rate Grapes? German Wines have a Bad Rap

German Vintners Feel Squeeze From New World Wines

RIESLING FROM THE RHINELAND AND OTHER DIVINE DROPS1 Discounter Aldi Pulls Top German Vintners Into Low-Cost Fold









10 Mainz: Modernity Meets Tradition11 Koblenz: Good For Getting Over Jet Lag





Germany has only a small share of the global wine market, but it is mighty. But up-and-

coming wine-makers from surprising places, like China, are giving "Old World"

winegrowers a run for their money.

Growing grapes is alabor of love

"Life is too short to

drink bad wine,"

Germany's most

famous poet,

Johann Wolfgang

von Goethe,

supposedly oncesaid. Goethe, it should be noted, loved drinking his "grape juice" each evening.

Like Goethe at the turn of the 19th century, more and more Germans are drinking wine

these days -- and replacing the image of Germany as a beer-drinking nation. Even in the

biggest markets in the world -- the United States and Japan, more people are sipping

away at the nectar of the gods. German vintners have therefore been placing their bets on
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9/12

one wine they do very well: Riesling.

"Riesling continues to be our 'hot' wine," said Steffen Schindler, director of foreign

marketing at the German Wine Institute (DWI) in Mainz. "We've seen that since the

beginning of the 1990s, the selection of wines around the world has grown dramatically,

so we've really had to carve a niche for ourselves."

That niche coincides with changes in eating habits.

"People are eating lighter, healthier meals," Schindler said. A light, fruity white wine suits

such cuisine -- and that's where the popularity of German Riesling comes in. It fits the

bill, according to Schindler.

Tough competition

It's all in the

Riesling, say

German wine

exporters

DWI is the national

marketing

organization for

German wines.

Wine shops and

producers all

contribute to DWI's budget -- much like a tax. The DWI decides how German wines are

to be marketed on both domestic and foreign markets. The marketing methods are

supplemented by winegrowers' own private advertising strategies.

Obviously, part of developing marketing strategies is to know your competitor.

While Europe still remains the world's biggest wine producer -- with Germany producing

3 percent of the world's wine, vino from so-called "New World" countries such as the

United States, Argentina, Australia and Chile has become stiff competition for "Old

World" -- or European -- winemakers. More and more wine is being cultivated in these

countries.According to the International Organization of Vine and Wine (OIV), wines from such

New World countries now have a 25.5 percent slice of the 80 billion-euro ($100 billion)

global wine market. That market share was 1.6 percent 20 years ago.

The European Union's five largest wine producers -- Italy, Spain, France, Germany and

Portugal -- have seen their portion decline from 75 to just over 62 percent in those two


10/12

decades, according to AFP news agency. At the same time, wine consumption in the

strong wine-producing countries like France, Italy and Spain, has dropped in the past few

years -- meaning that EU nations are producing more wine than they can sell.

The European Commission has therefore called for a reform of wine cultivation and trade

in EU-member states.

"The plan aims to increase the competitiveness of EU wine producers, strengthen the

reputation of EU wines and win back market share," the Commission said in a June

statement. The idea is to reduce quantity and improve quality.

To your health!

How the grapes are

cut from a vine is

important

German vintners

say they can offer

those quality wines.

Luckily, a tasty

Riesling can only

be made in

Germany, Schindler

said.

"We have a very particular climate here," he said. "Chardonnay vines -- which are

probably the most popular sort right now -- can be cultivated virtually anywhere. That's

not the case with GermanRiesling, or Silvaner, which only grow in the unique climate we

have in the south and southwest part of the country."

So, while German wine-makers are worried about tough competition from winemakers

abroad, even from countries such as China -- which is now the world's seventh-largest

producer of wine -- they are relying on the popularity and quality of Riesling -- not just

for sales, but also to help them market other German wines abroad.

Long wine-makinghistory

Vineyards along the

Moselle river

Still, one shouldn't

underestimate


11/12

"surprise" wine-growing countries like China, says Alexander Margaritoff, CEO of

Hawesko Holding AG, one of the world's largest sellers of wine.

"The Chinese have been making wine for over 9,000 years," he said in an interview this

month with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung paper, adding that the winegrowing

regions of China lie along the same degree of latitude as Bordeaux, Tuscany and the Napa

Valley.

Even areas which have normally not been suited for wine cultivation in the past may be

so in the future. Global warming is helping along countries such as Britain and even the

Netherlands to make their mark in wine-making. New types of vines, too, are able to

thrive in moderate, rainy climates, not just in sunny, warm ones.

That means that other areas could potentially develop climates as "unique" as Germany's

-- giving rise to more wine cultivators and therefore competitors.

A "refined" Riesling

Even nuns have

their own Riesling

vineyards along

the Rhine

For now, however,

German wine

producers are

riding the wave of

dramatic exports, which rose about 13 percent in the past 12 months.

"The most dynamic market for us right now is the United States -- there, growth has been

around 30 percent in the past year for German wine exports," Schindler said, "and that's

mainly because ofRiesling."

It is also an affordable wine: a good bottle starts at around $10 in the US; in Germany, the

same costs around four and a half euros ($5.60), Schindler said.

Perhaps one of biggest reasons for the growth of German wine exports, however, is a

change in image."In the 1990s, we used to try to 'educate' people abroad about German wine," Schindler

said. "We explained everything from the 13 wine-growing regions here to the different

types of grapes and their harvest times.

"At some point, we realized that's all just too complicated for our foreign customers,"

Schindler said. "Most consumers just want to have fun -- they don't want lectures before


12/12

they start drinking a glass of wine."

That's probably what good old Goethe thought, too -- even six feet under, his mouth may

be watering for his favorite elixir.

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Vintners Toast German Wine