Wine harvest: Winegrowers expect a much better harvest in 2023 than in the previous year

Winegrowers in Germany expect a significantly better wine harvest in 2023 than in the previous year. The Federal Statistical Office in Wiesbaden announced on Monday that the harvest volume is expected to be almost 9.9 million hectoliters of wine must, 9.1 percent more than in the previous year. The statisticians cite an adequate water supply almost everywhere and no major storm damage as the reason. The downy mildew (Peronospora) only occurred more regionally. The estimated harvest volume is also above the average for the years 2017 to 2022 – by almost 1.2 million hectoliters or 13.3 percent.

More than half of the total wine harvest expected in Germany will again come from the largest wine-growing regions, Rheinhessen (2.75 million hectoliters) and Palatinate (2.53 million hectoliters). A quarter is harvested in Baden (1.38 million hectoliters) and Württemberg (1.11 million hectoliters). The rest is distributed among the other nine growing areas.

Significant percentage increases in harvest volumes are expected in the Moselle, Württemberg, Palatinate and Rheinhessen regions, which are large in terms of area. However, smaller growing areas such as the Ahr, the Middle Rhine and Saxony also reported significant growth. In contrast, the plus is rather small in the growing regions of Baden, Saale-Unstrut, Nahe and Franconia. And in the Rheingau, the winegrowers even have to accept slight losses (minus 1.7 percent).

The harvest volume of the most popular German grape variety Riesling is expected to increase by almost 17 percent year-on-year to 2.19 million hectoliters. There was also growth in the second and third most important white grape varieties in terms of volume, Müller-Thurgau and Pinot Gris. The harvest volume of the red grape variety Blauer Spätburgunder also increased significantly, by almost six percent to 1.02 million hectolitres, while the Dornfelder remained roughly at the previous year’s level.