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Spring frosts strike German vineyards
A sudden cold snap has caused “extreme damage” across many German wine regions, with some producers expecting to lose almost all of their crop.
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Germany experienced its warmest March on record this year, with the mean temperature of 7.5°C reportedly 4°C above the average for 1961 to 1990.
But this warm weather was not to last, with temperatures plummeting in the last week. In some parts of the country the mercury dropped to -5°C.
According to the Deutscher Weinbauverband e.V/German Winegrowers’ Association (DWV), the frosts have already caused significant damage to the vines, and the warm weather beforehand didn’t help, with the plants around two to four weeks ahead of where they would normally be at this time of year.
‘Devastating’
“The frosts at this point in time are so devastating because the vegetation is already well advanced after the recent months of record heat,” said DWV president Klaus Schneider. “The young, fertile shoots are now freezing, and those that grow back may not be fertile.”
As for where the damage is, it varies from location to location, though Schneider noted that “some regions are reporting extreme damage”.
According to Wines of Germany, it is still too early to fully assess the damage, but reports from producers suggest that it has taken a heavy toll.
The Franconian Winegrowers’ Association shared its belief that around 50% of the vineyards in the region, which cover an area in excess of 6,000 hectares (80% of which is planted with white varieties), have been at least slightly damaged.
Weingut Otto Keller in Baden, Germany’s southernmost wine region, estimated that 99% of its vines were damaged by the frosts.
Conditions proved similarly devastating for Weingut Maximin Grünhaus in Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, which said that it had lost “100% of the shoots” over just two nights.
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The huge losses at Maximin Grünhaus reveal just how dire the situation is, as the vineyard itself is planted on a steep gradient (75° in some places), which normally means that the upper portions of the vineyard are unaffected by frost, which tends to strike the lower-lying areas, and the main variety cultivated is Riesling, which is usually fairly hardy in cold conditions.
Winegrowers have been forced to act quickly, trying all manner of methods to try and save some of their crop. As this Alamy stock photo shows, one hobbyist producer in Bavaria has wrapped their shoots in clingfilm to afford them a degree of protection.
For other producers, this unwelcome episode of extreme weather has forced them to resort to old fashioned techniques.
Schloss Wackerbarth in Saxony, situated just south of Berlin in the east of the country, utilised anti-frost candles in an effort to warm the surrounding vines (pictured above).
However, as this snapshot of its vines show, the candles may not have been enough.
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Schloss Wackerbarth’s season of outdoors summer experiences, including dinners and live music concerts, are due to begin this week, and temperatures do look like they are going to increase – the worry for producers now is if these improved conditions will hold out, or if the growing season has another twist in store for them.
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