In Germany, One Of The Things That’s Trending Is ‘Flood Wine!’ Wait, What?

In Germany, the land of the great Bavarian forests and ineradicably exhilarating autobahns, there’s been havoc where the recent events are concerned. Usually speaking, the beer-loving, football-obsessed, Oktoberfest-celebrating, pro-refugee strongman of Western Europe is a pleasant place to be in. Perhaps one of the most undersung travel destinations where it comes to the entirety of Europe. But where the country’s own people are concerned, then things could’ve been darker where the recent days are concerned. The ecological fury caused by the storms and floods have wrecked havoc in a country that’s never experienced something of such ravaging magnitude in the recent times.

That being said, amid the chaos caused by nature’ fury, with there being tremendous loss of human life and damage to physical infrastructure, one rather strange phenomenon has struck the country. So much so that it is making constant news and trending big time.

Apparently, something as obscure as flood wine is trending and making news all over Germany. This leads us to the key question- just what is flood wine, how does one have it, does it have flood water as a principal ingredient and whatnot! Questions, there are plenty, but all of which need some critical answering.

The following is what Germany’s own DW (DW.com) had to say:

Following the devastating floods in western Germany, many winery owners in the Ahr Valley are facing financial disaster. Now special wine bottles soiled with mud are being sold to stave off ruin. 

They say it is their worst year for wine — and of course, they are right. And yet a special initiative is selling a collection of six mud-covered bottles of wine for €120 ($140). Those bottles bear the seal “authentically muddied” and the funds raised by these “flood wines” will go directly to the 50 winegrowers in the Ahr Valley whose wine cellars were flooded by rising waters.

The above being told, while sustaining a loss is a bad piece of news, even more so in the days where one’s already jostling with the pandemic, a question remains to be answered in the context of flood wine.

And it’s nothing else but the basic one that will there be a huge market for this ‘muddy splash of water’ sort of beverage! And if so, how soon does a wine cellar expect for such a product to go on rampant sales that it leads to an empty shelf scenario?

One of the famous wine makers, now known across in Germany, is a gentleman by the name of Benno Gilles. He’s someone who had to remain holed up in an attic whilst the storms unleashed their havoc in Germany, the Marienthal-based winemaker witnessing his properties hit hard by the waters.

He happened to say, “I’ve been working here for 40 years as a winemaker. It’s a third-generation family business, but in a few hours everything was gone.”

Though, to good fortunate and his sheer handwork, his winery draws tons and tons of people, particularly fond of the red wine. But even the man who produces upto 25,000 litres of wine per year faced an ordeal thanks to the recent inclement weather that stung Germany hard.

“I estimate that around 10,000 wine bottles and all my machines are ruined along with half a hectare of my vineyard,” said Gilles, before adding, “If I’m lucky, I can start production again next year and save the 2022 harvest.”

So what does one do with the dirty bottles that have been pardoned by the inevitable flooding? Well, find a way to sell them, it only gets doable if you are a renowned winemaker. This is how many flood wine makers hope to ply their trade.