Climate Change Hits Germany, and Winemakers Couldn’t Be Happier
From Riesling to Pinot Noir, extreme summer boosts quality and quantity of German wines.
Harvest overlooking the Rhine River, September 2018.
Photographer: picture alliance/picture allianceThe Braunewell family has been practicing the ancient art of viticulture in the picturesque hills above the Rhine River since the middle of the 17th century. This year’s grape harvest, at the end of Germany’s second-warmest summer on record, is their earliest ever.
Across Germany, the “Weinlese” is in full swing, and vintners are delighted with what promises to be an excellent year in one of the unique upsides to global warming. For Stefan Braunewell — who runs his family’s vineyard in Essenheim near Mainz with his grandfather, parents and brother — that means gathering the region’s famous Riesling crop four weeks earlier than usual.