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| Ernie Loosen, owner Dr. Loosen |
The soon to be constructed 4-lane road bridge and highway will not only affect the natural, aesthetic beauty of the region but also affect the quality of some of the best quality fruit from the region, fear the top winemakers of the region.
There is a long stretch of premium quality steep "Grosse Lage" (Grand cru) and "Erste Lage" (First growth) Riesling vineyards along River Mosel between Bernkastel-Kues and Traben-Trarbach. Government plans to build a 1.7 kilometer long, 160 meter high bridge and a highway to be named B50 which threaten these vineyards, worrying the winemakers about the damage to the quality of vines during the long period of construction and some of the permanent damages caused in the process.
Although a scheme of financial compensation has already been drawn up to cover some of the losses, it has been officially acknowledged that there may be a long term decrease in the quality of grapes because of the shade cast over some vineyards.
The international wine community is as shocked and appalled as the winemakers 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 continuing for over 2000 years. The wine landscape in this region is widely recognised as one of the most beautiful imaginable- a visual paradise.
Surprisingly, this region known as Middle Mosel area has apparently not taken any action to get it approved for the UNESCO World Heritage status that it richly deserves.
The B50 project was planned 40 years ago but has been postponed several times, due both to legal challenges and problems in securing private finance. The government has seemingly decided to use public money to go ahead with the project and the work has finally started.
The winemakers and their supporters have been protesting, anyway. Ernie Loosen who owns some of the best vineyards in the region (he exports to India through Brindco) will be directly affected by the plan. He fumes, "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.” Talking about the effect it may have on irrigation, Ernie added, “There is a forest on top of the hills here and those forests act as a water reservoir for these vineyards, and when this small ridge is sealed off by building a motorway on it, it can't retain the water and that will be detrimental to the water balance of these vineyards, and they are the best vineyards of the middle Mosel." Loosen predicts that the water problem could cause untold damage to Riesling wineries.
The winemakers have been campaigning against the project at London International Wine Fair earlier this month and propose to widen it, till they can hopefully ‘bring sense to the politicians.’
Another quality producer Markus Molitor, owner of Markus Molitor Estate says, "This bridge will destroy the aesthetics of the cultural landscape at the Mosel. The impact on tourism, especially during the lengthy building works will be great. The vines will be detrimentally affected by shadow from the bridge, water distribution will be permanently altered; and all this disruption comes precisely to some of the rare "Grosse Lagen" (Grand cru) vineyards of the Mosel. The main official argument that this road is needed to make the airport Frankfurt Hahn more accessible is highly doubtful: to destroy a cultural heritage environment for a business with no clear future is really a poor trade-off."
Yet another well-known producer JJ Prüm has voices its opinion through the owner couple, Katharina & Manfred Prüm,’ this giant, grotesque bridge would irreversibly deface the beautiful viticulture landscape in the Middle Mosel valley between Zeltingen, Ürzig and Erden. It is shocking to see politicians deciding to waste hundreds of millions of taxpayer’s money on the disfigurement of more than 2000 years of cultural heritage, instead of protecting it and supporting its acceptance as genuine world cultural heritage by UNESCO.”
Of the local campaigners, Sarah Washington in Ürzig is the most articulate. You can write to her for more information or visit the site: www.b50neu.de
Many international experts like Jancis Robinson are supporting the protests against the project. ’Please fight Mosel madness,’ she says. If you would also like to register your protest with the German Chancellor Angela Merkel, click here. We have already done it!
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