In case you missed it, Valerie Kathawala wrote an article titled “The Invisible Crisis in Germany’s Wine Industry.”
Thanks for posting that. Interesting read. Need to think about it a little, and probably re-read before commenting.
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You’re welcome.
Thanks. Sounds similar to what has been going on in France and elsewhere. Structural readjustments for a world that wants less wine, but better quality.
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As I posted on IG it is hard to fully understand this without visiting. This past December I visited Jannis Melsheimer and he told me in the 1970s there were 75 wineries in his town. Today it is less than 5. His father reluctantly keeps buying up parcels in Mullay-Hofberg so they don’t go fallow. Reluctantly because he then has to sell more wine and he does not want to get too big. In August I visited a middle Mosel grower and he told me stories of small growers in his town with stunning 70-80 year old vineyards that are forced to sell bulk wine for 1 euro per Liter.
There are many reasons for this and it is not just that demand is down. Many of the workers who do the hard work in the vineyard are getting old and the younger generation does not want to do it anymore. The vineyards in the Mosel are amongst the hardest to farm anywhere in the world.
Luckily we do see many young winemakers coming to Germany (and not just the Mosel) to make wine but it is not enough.
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In October 2012, I created a topic on this forum about the crisis in the Mosel. One person replied. Dan Melia translated Ulli Stein’s Mosel manifesto, which I published on my site in September 2012.
For a while, there was an upswing in new plantings in the Mosel, but too many growers and producers are giving up. And it’s not just on the steep slopes.
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Mosel is going to be hit particularly hard by the looming tariffs. Domestic demand for off dry and higher styles has been shrinking for years.
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As she points out, the crisis affects both bulk and fine wines. Not all of those producers at Rieslingfeier are sold out.
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I think you’re right.
Keep in mind this is also true in the U.S. It is near impossible to sell Auslese.
The demand for these wines from what I am told is in Asia.
Of course if the tariffs go through it will be devastating for Germany.
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Ulli Stein’s “Call to Action” was first published on the blog of the former Mosel Wine Merchant on January 11, 2010.
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It is not all doom and gloom. I could easily name 10 winemakers who have set up shop in the Mosel and number of younger generation winemakers who are taking over (e.g, Julian Ludes, Jannis Melsheimer, the Klosterhof boys etc.).
Some new growers in the Mosel:
Madame Flock
Phil Lardot
Rosalie Curtin
Jakob Tennstedt
Lesom
Chad Singley
Shadowfolk
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The risks and chances of globalization …
There are highly regarded German producers only rarely mentioned on this board. This clearly has to do with availability as they are apparently able to sell out locally and don‘t rely on exports. They should be OK. On the other hand, there is a number of hot, in demand European winemakers who seem to export most of their output overseas. To the extent that not a single bottle is openly offered in all of Europe while carried by a number of shops in say NYC. What will happen here? Will they find enough local buyers when the tide turns? Assuming that I am potentially interested, am I to leave “my” winemakers hanging, who granted me allocations over the years?
I would be very interested to have examples of both.
I can think of some of the latter since I am most familiar with the U.S. but most are small.
For the former Bernhard Huber, Molitor, Meyer-Nëkel (frankly most of the Ahr) come to mind. Maybe Van Voxlem?
After the financial crisis in 2008, that happened to a number of Mosel producers who were dependent on export markets. Vollenweider was one of them.
As for the current crisis, an estate is offering mature wines from its private cellar as “timeless treasures,” and there are many others that have sales problems and are downsizing.
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I was there and based on quality and price there were three wines I wanted to buy after the event.
2021 Karthauserhofberg Kabinett
2023 Loewen Herrenberg Kabinett (which I have bought)
2023 Schloss Lieser Juffer Kabinett
Many other wines I enjoyed of course. Just no QPR. Of course, like quality winemakers across the world, German/Austrian winemakers deserve to prosper financially. However, your Average Joe wine buyer has to be able to afford the wines for them to sell. There is a breaking point (for example, I am out with JJ Prum and I used to buy just about every vintage).
I feel the same way about lots of wines from all over the world. If underlying costs require current prices I still can’t buy or simply trade down.
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Many vineyards have been grubbed up or gone fallow, with more to come; others are up for lease or sale, including in the best sites.
This is very sad. There’s no way to replace said vineyards, not in the near future at least. Once they’re gone, they’re gone and likely won’t be the same again.
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Just to stay with dry Riesling: Breuer, Wittmann, Buerklin-Wolf, Kuehling-Gillot, Rebholz, Christmann … Most of those considered (arguably) among top 10 producers.
As for the latter, for instance
Bernaudeau, Las Toscas, Gillet, Richard Leroy …
At the same time recent leased vines sales were at record highs.
There’s a real bifurcation.
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