Germany - Trend Towards Becoming a Red Wine Country Stopped?

Picture: Christian Schiller at Schloss Johannisberg, Rheingau, Germany

In 1980, red grapes accounted for 11.4 percent of German wine production. Over the following decades the share of red wine increased steeply, reaching 36.9 percent in 2006. Obviously, Germany was becoming a red wine country, due to a series of reasons, including climate change.

Picture: Shares of Red and White Wine in Germany - Source: Steffen Schindler (Deutsches Weininstitut)

In the following years, however, the share of red wines has continously decreased, to 32.3 percent in 2021. Is the trend towards becoming a red wine producer broken? The future will tell.

Steffen Schindler of the Deutsches Weininstitut argues that the reason for the decrease is demand-driven: People drink more and more white wine because it suits many trends in modern cuisine better: nordic, asian, vegetarian, vegan, more poultry, fish, salads, vegetables.  

In terms of hectares, wine production in Germany currently stands at slightly above 100.000. The big loosers over the past 4 decades were Müller-Thurgau and Silvaner; their production fell by almost 20.000 hcctares. Riesling increased by 5.000 hectares. 

Steffen Schindler: "The German Dream Team Riesling & Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir) are now the two most widely planted varieties in Germany. This is due to the fact that Spätburgunder has been very stable over the past years, while Müller-Thurgau lost a lot of surface and has finally dropped to third place in 2021. Needless to say that Riesling is by far the most widely planted variety, and still growing slightly! The other big winner in recent years has been Grauburgunder (Pinot Gris/Grigio) to the effect that in 2021 it has climbed to forth place, pushing Dornfelder back to number 5. PINOT PARADISE GERMANY: Taken together, the various pinot varieties now cover 29.8 % of all vineyards in Germany!

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