Viticulture
The steep river bank slopes that are scattered around the Mosel region are considered some of the most labor intensive vineyards in the world. Mechanical harvesting is impractical and nearly seven times more man hours are needed in the Mosel than in more flatter terrain such as the Médoc. Grapevines are individually staked to the ground without connecting wires so that vineyard workers can tend the plants going horizontally across the vineyard rather than vertically, which would be more treacherous and tiring. Safety is a priority for many Mosel vineyard owners with the area having a documented history of fatalities among workers while tending the vines. A benefit of the steep Mosel vineyards is that the incline allows for more direct sunlight to have contact with the vines. During the winter, rain often causes some soil erosion, especially of the vital slate chips that are needed for their heat retaining properties. Many vineyards will gather these eroded sediments and carry them back up the hillside.
The Riesling grape, grown on 59.7% of the region's cultivated vineyard surface in 2008, is widely considered the most prestigious and highest quality wine grape of the Mosel but it can not be planted on every vineyard site due to difficulties the grape has in ripening in particularly cool climates. Factors such as altitude, aspect and sunlight exposure can have a pronounced effect not only one the resulting quality of the wine but also whether or not the Riesling grape will even ripen at all. A positive characteristic of the Riesling grape is that despite less than perfect ripeness it can still create a wine of finesse and elegance that would escape most other grape varieties.
In place of Riesling, the easier cultivated Müller-Thurgau grape (14.7%) and other Riesling crossings like Kerner (4.6%) were planted in large quantities on the sites that were not suitable for Riesling, and which in many cases had been previously used for other agricultural purposes. A negative consequence of these large scale plantings is that the wine produced from these sites are typically of a lower quality than Riesling wines which in turn has a depressing economic effect on the prices of all Mosel wines. While consumers have benefited with top quality Riesling wines being underpriced in comparison with some of the world's other great wines from places like Bordeaux, Burgundy and California, the economic hardship created by the prices has caused some of the smaller Mosel vineyards to go out of business.
In 2008, the Mosel vineyards covered 9,034 hectares (22,320 acres), making it the fifth-largest of Germany's 13 wine regions. White grape varieties cover 91 percent of the region's total vineyard surface. The trend in total vineyard area has until recently been slightly negative over a longer period of time, down from 12,760 hectares (31,500 acres) in 1988 to 9,533 hectares (23,560 acres) in 2003 and to 8,975 hectares (22,180 acres) in 2006. It is primarily lesser sites previously planted with "low quality" varieties that have been abandoned in this process; during the 20 year period from 1988 to 2008, plantings of Müller-Thurgau decreased by 55% and those of Elbling by 49%. However, in 2007 and 2008, the negative trend in total plantations has been broken, and the Mosel vineyard surface has seen a small increase of 59 hectares (150 acres) in two years.
The projected Mosel High Bridge will cross and impact some of the most famous vineyards prompting international wine critics and oenologists to oppose its construction.
Read more about this topic: Mosel (wine Region)