Hello readers,

I’m posting today to fill you in on a threat to the future of Mosel Rieslings.

A four-lane road bridge and highway are soon to be constructed across the celebrated landscape of the Mosel valley, endangering world-class Riesling vineyards.

Situated along the Mosel river between the German towns of Bernkastel-Kues and Traben-Trarbach is an exceptionally long stretch of rare premium quality “Grosse Lage” (Grand cru) and “Erste Lage” (First growth) Riesling vineyards. We winemakers in the region are outraged that politicians are now going ahead with a 40-year old plan to build a 1.7 kilometre long, 160 metre high bridge and highway that will threaten the vineyards of some of the world’s greatest wine estates.

The planned road, named the B50, will emerge from a tunnel through the side of the famous Ürziger Würzgarten wine mountain, cross the Mosel river via a gigantic concrete bridge and continue directly along the top of the vineyards of Zeltingen-Rachtig, Wehlen, Graach and Bernkastel, with an additional slip road passing close by the village of Erden.

We winemakers in the region are very worried about maintaining the quality of the vines during the lengthy building works. It is officially acknowledged that there will be a decrease in the quality of grapes in areas affected by building dust, debris and heavy plant activity; and when the bridge is completed, by the shade cast over some vineyards.

We are even more concerned about the long-term impact of the road on water distribution to the vines. Existing forest above the vineyards will be removed and the new road embankment will effectively seal off a large swath of the natural hilltop. The forest currently forms the water reservoir needed to sustain the vines during the frequent spells of very hot weather; any less available water would be disastrous. The other side of this equation gives rise to the potential for flash-flooding and land erosion in certain areas.

The international wine community is shocked and appalled at what they see as nothing short of vandalism to some of the world’s premier Riesling vineyards. Wine production at these famous sites has been going on for more than 2000 year. The wine landscape in this region is widely praised as one of the most beautiful imaginable.

Many people are puzzled by the fact that the Middle Mosel area has not been put forward to UNESCO to receive the World Heritage status that it clearly deserves. Wine production in this ancient cultural landscape is one of the very few large-scale human industries that has managed to regain a harmonious balance with nature - the vineyards and forests once again support many rare
species of flora and fauna.

The B50 project has previously progressed only to be postponed several times over the past few decades, due both to legal challenges by campaigners and problems in securing private finance. The situation has reached a crisis as the politicians are now determined to see it built from the public purse.

I don’t understand why this bridge and motorway is supposed to be built at all. The maximum time saved in any direction of
travel can be no more than 30 minutes. Sometimes I think the politicians want to especially spoil the most beautiful parts of
the Mosel as they did in Winningen where a similarly monstrous bridge was built years ago. I often take customers
there to see the amazingly steep terraced vineyards and when the bridge comes into view it is always a complete shock to
them. And I am also shocked every time. The proposed bridge near Ürzig is much higher and nearly double the length of the
Winningen bridge. The main concern to the vineyards is that the motorway route is going along the ridge above some
of the best vineyards of the middle Mosel. They will cut down forests, compact the earth and make sure that water will drain away very quickly from the road surface. This will be bad for the water balance of the vineyards below. Already in this decade we have had some extremely dry years - any less available water will threaten the vineyards. It is also known that dust and other pollution
from large building sites can be detrimental for the vines. This building site is planned to last for 7 years and we all know that these promises are never kept. The whole project lacks any long-term thinking. Sometimes I wonder, and this is my biggest fear, that there is no reason whatsoever for this bridge and motorway other than a bunch of bureaucrats who have blindly followed a plan for more than 40 years.”

To read more about it, please see an excellent blog post by Jancis Robinson.