Despite the devastating flood disaster on 14th Juli 2021, wine lovers can look forward to the usual good wines from the Ahr.
As the German Wine Institute (DWI) points out, the winegrowers on the Ahr were able to harvest high-quality grapes from around 90 percent of their vineyards for the 2021 vintage thanks to the great solidarity of the entire wine industry and the help of many volunteers. They grew on the higher slopes of the river valley, where they were spared from the water masses.
The wines were vinified in the hastily restored cellars and buildings. ”It’s unbelievable what the wineries and winegrowers’ cooperatives have achieved in their enterprises in the past few months. However, they still have a long way to go until they are fully rebuilt and they still need a lot of support. A visit to the region helps here, because wine tourism was and is an elementary economic factor on the Ahr,” explains DWI Managing Director Monika Reule.
The red wine hiking trail is one of the tourist highlights of the Ahr. You can explore the region over 35 kilometers from Bad Bodendorf to Altenahr and convince yourself of the qualities of the Ahr wines from the local producers. According to DWI information, the Ahr is the wine-growing region with the highest proportion of red wine in Germany. Over 80 percent of the remaining 500 hectares of vineyards are planted with red wine varieties, especially Pinot Noir. Not least because of the special terroir and the soil characterized by slate, it has a very special characteristic that is appreciated by wine lovers worldwide.