Rescue attempt for Riesling and Co.

By Christian BlockLex Kleren Switch to German for original article

Do Riesling and other typical Moselle wines still have a future in Luxembourg amidst the challenges of climate change? Ahead of this year's Wäibaudag, the Lëtzebuerger Journal spoke with IBLA consultant Dr. Jörg Pauly about the impact of climate change, potential competition from northern Europe, greenwashing, and the prospects for organic viticulture in Luxembourg.

Dr Jörg Pauly has been a viticulture consultant at the Institute of Organic Agriculture and Agroecology Luxembourg (IBLA) for almost three years. In his early 60s, he has always been involved in organic viticulture, whether as an organic inspector or as an independent organic winegrower. He has been running a winery on the German side of the Moselle since the mid-1990s and, according to him, converted to organic farming "almost simultaneously" with Luxembourg's oldest organic winery in 2001. This year, the agronomist will be one of the guest speakers at the annual Wäibau-Dag (viticulture day) on 5 February, the training event par excellence for the entire sector.

Lëtzebuerger Journal: Mr Pauly, what climatic changes have you experienced yourself in a quarter of a century as a winegrower?

Jörg Pauly: The quality of the grapes, the increased sugar content, the earlier ripening and budding, higher growth rates: All these parameters, which describe the vegetative as well as generative growth of the grapes or the vine, have changed. For example, we now have an average of around 1.0 to 1.3 per cent more alcohol by volume in our wines naturally because the grapes simply store more sugar. In the beginning, this was a joyful event because we were able to produce strong, dry wines in the northern Moselle growing region, whether on the Luxembourg or German side.

At some point, however, we realised that the better growing conditions could also be associated with disadvantages. It is precisely these cool climate varieties, with Riesling at the top of the list, that require a long and slow ripening period for optimal mineral storage and flavour development.

The overarching theme of your presentation will be climatic changes in general and the effects on viticulture in particular. What developments do you anticipate?

The developments that we have seen in recent years are likely to intensify. We have higher average temperatures, a shift in precipitation to the winter half-year, at roughly the same level, and we have significantly more global radiation, i.e. the number of hours on which the sun shines. This, together with the higher temperatures, results in higher evaporation. This is in the range of 100 to 200 litres per square metre per year. And that is ultimately the water that we are lacking. The drought is therefore not caused by a lack of precipitation. There is also a risk that the earlier budding of the vines will fall victim to the late frosts that can occur at the end of April or beginning of May. Winegrowers in the Grevenmacher/Mertert area and along the Sûre had to make this painful experience in April 2024.

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