After Awful Year, a Small But Mighty Wine Vintage Is Expected
Mildew, drought, frost, hail—climate change wreaked havoc on almost all wine regions in 2021. But those few grapes that made it through bear the mark of a memorable vintage.
Photographer: Jamie Chung for Bloomberg Businessweek
Sister winemakers Meike and Dörte Näkel of Meyer-Näkel winery barely escaped with their lives in the mid-July floods that swept through Germany’s tiny Ahr Valley, home to silky textured pinot noirs known locally as spätburgunders.
Trapped in their flooded winery, they swam under floating barrels and kicked out a window. Then they were washed downstream and found refuge in a tree, where they shivered for seven hours until they were rescued. More than 180 people died in the flood, and dozens of wine estates were damaged or destroyed. Some vineyards were completely washed away.