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Winemakers in Germany’s Ahr Valley have begun rebuilding alongside local communities after terrifying floods that led to deaths and also destroyed wine cellars and property. Floods led to more than 180 deaths in Germany and Belgium in July, and the Ahr Valley was one of the worst-hit areas, with flood waters also destroying property, bridges and roads.
‘It’s a disaster,’ said Marc Adeneuer, of JJ Adeneuer winery in Ahrweiler and head of the local branch of Germany’s VDP wine association. ‘You had to run for your life,’ he said of the sudden rise of the Ahr river. In some cases, flood waters were moving so fast they carried away wine barrels and equipment.
Weingut Kreuzberg, which won a Best in Show medal for its Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir) 2018 at this year’s Decanter World Wine Awards (see accompanying results supplement with this issue), said its team and their families survived but the winery was badly affected. Expressing a determination to rebuild in an emailed statement, the producer said ‘the winery will definitely continue to exist’.
Martin Sermann, of Weingut Sermann, told Decanter that everyone in his family survived but economic damage was severe. ‘We lost all of our expensive wines [maturing] in oak barrels,’ he said. Heavy equipment and the winery’s recently opened bistro were also damaged.
Sermann also said the loss of tourism infrastructure would be a ‘big challenge’ for the region over the medium term. But he said his cellar facilities should be able to manage the 2021 harvest. And producers have been comforted by strong support from beyond the region.
‘What has been really great is the support from the general population and from fellow winemakers,’ Sermann said, adding: ‘Many winemakers [from other regions] came and helped us rebuild cellar facilities.’
Germany’s Wine Institute highlighted several donation campaigns on its website. A ‘flütwein’ initiative has been raising funds by selling wines salvaged from the flood. It was launched by local restaurateurs, in association with non-profit group ‘Ahr – A wine region needs Help for Rebuilding eV’, which Adeneuer helped to set up.
For more information on ways to donate, see germanwines.de