Don’t miss the latest drinks industry news and insights Sign up for our award-winning newsletters and get insider intel and trends delivered to your inbox every week Two-thirds of independent German wine producers are in trouble and how are wineries adapting to stay afloat everyone was in full agreement: these producers—and their peers—have ushered in a golden age for German wine no one talked about what was happening back in Germany where the broader wine industry is in crisis “We are facing a transition of a magnitude not seen since the Second World War,” says Simone Loose, Ph.D., a professor of wine and beverage business administration at Geisenheim University and one of Germany’s leading researchers in the field A combination of economic pressures and shifting consumer habits has left many producers struggling Climate whiplash has slashed yields in some areas trying to sell their surplus to a saturated bulk wine market painful period of adjustment before the German wine sector returns to viability “It’s very, very tough times right now,” says Christine Pieroth, the proprietor of Piri Naturel in the Nahe region there’s only been one direction in the wine market for the past years: more efficiency and more volume That this will collapse at some point was to be expected I don’t think there’s anyone not really affected.” But the crisis is not hitting all producers equally the focus is largely on the 25 percent of German wine production that comes from independent estates It also skews to export-driven regions like the Mosel which sells close to a third of its wines outside the country one in three independent producers improved their sales volume most of what is playing out in Germany will not impact what U.S This accounts for the “invisibility” of the crisis to outsiders two-thirds of independent wineries are in trouble Worst off are Germany’s bulk wine and cooperative producers which accounts for 50 to 55 percent of production by volume Health consciousness around alcohol is increasing and other beverages have entered the market Underlying all of this is the exceptional price sensitivity of German consumers who buy roughly two out of three wines at discount supermarkets Although Germany could meet domestic demand with its own wines as German wine consumers tend to favor cheaper imports and the diversity of international wine styles The size and structure of Germany’s wine sector plays an important role It has just over 100,000 hectares of vineyards and—despite significant consolidation over the past decade or so—most growers are small family businesses cultivating less than five hectares each The smallest tend to feed bulk producers and co-ops Loose estimates that even prior to 2020 at least two-thirds of German wine producers were unprofitable “Before our students leave Geisenheim to go back to take over their family estate ‘Now is the time when you do your bachelor thesis why don’t you look at the current situation of your estate to build up a strategy for the future?’ And how often do I see the students analyzing and for the first time realizing: ‘My parents don’t earn money.’ Then there is this thing of it’s all the generations on my shoulders so I have to work harder to make it work out.’ But there’s no way that’s working out.” This financial strain is compounded by developing demographic shifts. Younger generations are moving away from alcohol The German population is set to shrink due to low birth rates and insufficient immigration Germany is forecast to consume 40 to 50 percent less wine by 2045 with a smaller population of drinkers magnified by lower per capita consumption In a global survey conducted by the Prowein trade fair and Geisenheim University German producers registered the most pessimistic outlook for the current year A February 2025 Deutsches Weininstitut (DWI) report confirms the trend showing a four percent drop in wine consumption in Germany in 2024 German wines were disproportionately affected with a decline of five percent in sales and six percent in revenue The downturn has knock-on effects for trade fairs Some regions will be harder hit than others despite the Mosel’s success in export markets it is expected to shed up to 10 percent of its vineyard area over the next decade we expect more producers will go out of business or reduce their vineyard land,” he says two large regions where some 75 percent of production comes from co-ops vineyard area reductions are likely as well with significant production in the bulk wine market “That’s where we have prices of 70 cents per liter while the production cost is at least 1.30,” notes Loose Germany’s bulk wine market will continue to swell and prices continue to fall as growers dump more unsold wines focused winery producing wines from steep slope sites in Rüdesheim His business is growing for both wine sales and NA Moritz Haidle heads up the midsized biodynamic Weingut Karl Haidle in Württemberg a region that is among the hardest hit due to its high share of less-fashionable red wines and what he sees as little appetite for change he has adapted by streamlining his portfolio and facing up to the reality that growth may be a thing of the past He credits Loose with helping to destigmatize downsizing through her focus on the structural nature of the crisis But producers still don’t feel comfortable admitting they are shrinking (Acknowledging these taboos and other pressures the German Winegrowers Association has begun to promote confidential mental health support services in its magazine for growers.) Pieroth organically and regeneratively farms from her family’s 14 hectares “Already before the crisis in the wine market I wanted to downsize from a small-to-medium winery to a small winery and made the first steps towards that I don’t want to do a billion things just because the market demands it I want to be able to focus more on nature and species conservation very connected to my way of farming.” She envisions hosting workshops and teaching visitors “why it’s not possible to sell wines for three euros in the supermarket.” She also sees significant cost-savings potential in resource-sharing—machinery Exports remain a bright spot, with a slight, two percent increase in 2024. As such, more producers are pursuing this route, fueling competition for slots in import books in key markets. For decades, the U.S. has been the largest market for German wines. It remains so, at just over 12 percent of the total albeit by a narrowing margin as Scandinavia we do everything we can to keep pricing consistent That means warehousing on both coasts to help reduce shipping costs or picking up larger volumes less frequently so that when a grower truly needs to raise prices it’s all about maintaining value in the glass.”  because producers are afraid to raise them we have absorbed them in the stronger dollar.” He believes the German wines that come into the United States “have a following and they’ll continue to do so What we see on retail shelves and on premise is going to look pretty similar this year as last.” Germany’s two largest wine-producing states are developing support programs for struggling producers according to DWI spokesperson Ernst Büscher Initiatives under discussion include sales-promotion funds and incentives for growers to leave cleared vineyards fallow for six years instead of the current standard of three there are no mandates for vineyard removals “If there was an invisible hand that could find the ideal solution,” says Loose make supply and demand balanced again.’” Short of that she and her team have developed a globally unique tool to collect and evaluate the daily sales data of 600 wineries and cooperatives that participate voluntarily The aim is to provide the industry with reliable information enable businesses to compare themselves with others As the industry navigates these challenges more resilient German wine sector will emerge Don’t miss the latest drinks industry news and insights—delivered to your inbox every week Valerie Kathawala is a New York-based journalist specializing in the wines of Austria She is also the co-founder and co-editor of TRINK Magazine and California—including one AVA that has already been approved—have exciting potential for the U.S As vines are pulled and grapes left unpicked across California fruit-forward profile of classic Provence rosé calls for reductive winemaking but some producers are turning to a more oxidative approach to add complexity to their wines There’s no right way to space a vineyard but winemakers and researchers nonetheless have strong—and often opposing—views on the best way to approach vine density Learn more about how Provi simplifies the complex process of ordering and promoting wholesale alcohol between buyers SevenFifty Daily is an award-winning online magazine about the business and culture of the beverage alcohol industry covering all three tiers of the alcohol industry This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page a researcher at Geisenheim’s Department of Plant Breeding has been approved for a postdoctoral fellowship under the European Union’s Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) program These highly coveted research grants are awarded to exceptional scientists for their innovative research approaches Hannah Robinson has worked as a geneticist at Hochschule Geisenheim University’s Department of Plant Breeding since July 2024 Under the direction of Professor Kai Voss-Fels and together with her department colleagues the young Australian scientist is working to accelerate the cultivation process for important wine and horticultural crops “It currently takes around 25 years for new grape varieties to be approved This process is far too slow when you consider the speed at which climate conditions are currently changing and the population is growing,” says Dr Robinson on the urgency of her research work scientists at the Department of Plant Breeding are aiming to identify the right partner early on to produce a plant with the desired characteristics in the shortest time possible is analyzing the DNA of the plants and comparing them with a pool of DNA data Robinson wants to further improve prediction methods in plant breeding by incorporating other areas of research Robinson has now been awarded a MSCA fellowship for her research project The MSCA program was established by the European Union in order to fund postdoctoral researchers who want to improve their skills through further training and international mobility “Being able to leave my home country of Australia and conduct research in Europe as well as expand my professional network – it's a fantastic opportunity for my scientific career,” said Dr She also emphasized a key advantage to working at Geisenheim namely the chance to carry out research directly in the surrounding vineyards: “In Australia I had to drive for hours to reach the test sites.” Robinson completed her PhD in cereal crop genetics at the University of Queensland and subsequently worked at Intergrain one of Australia’s leading cereal breeding companies She is also an honorary professor at the University of Queensland “With her expertise in the field of quantitative genetics Robinson is a great addition to our team,” affirms Professor Kai Voss-Fels and I tried to recruit her for Hochschule Geisenheim University right away I am very pleased that it has now worked out The MSCA fellowship is a great honor for researchers – and one that Dr dateFormat['de_DE'])+ ' - '+item['institution']+' Weitere Pressemitteilungen dieser Einrichtung Grape growers around the world are feeling the effects of climate change and while today’s variable weather patterns may bring excellent crops and exceptional vintages every now and then experts say growers will have to adapt to continue producing high-quality berries that yield the wines consumers expect.  “I believe that recent harvests of Riesling were some of our best harvests ever and that only happened because of climate change But the problem at the same time is that the nicer the wine the more difficult it is for the plant,” said Dominik Sona a vineyard manager and cellar master in Germany and general manager/winemaker at Koehler-Ruprecht.  Sona was one of two key European speakers at B.E.V Cornell University’s annual education conference for New York state’s grape and wine industry He shared that as weather has become more variable European growers have begun re-evaluating their agricultural practices so they can keep the industry going for the next generation and beyond.  Sona’s comments followed a sweeping overview of the issue from Hans R president of Geisenheim University in Germany and a leading expert on viticulture and the impacts of climate change Schultz described the degree to which climate change has already altered temperature all of which are vital for wine grape production.  Schultz described overall increasing temperatures in grape-growing regions around the world during the growing season which is at 50 degrees north latitude (50°N) the temperature has increased by about 4 degrees Fahrenheit over the last 40 years so today the average in Geisenheim is similar to that experienced back in the 1980s in Bordeaux Bordeaux has had its own temperature rise over the past 40 years and is now about 4 degrees above its 1980s average Similar increases have also occurred in other regions which is now producing sparkling wines.  Geisenheim soil temperatures at 1 meter in depth have increased by 4.5–5.4 degrees Fahrenheit in the spring 1.8 degrees in the fall and an astonishing 7.2–8.1 degrees on average over the three months of summer.  “We don’t know what is happening underneath our feet so we really need to focus on the soil a lot more.” increasing temperatures result in more evapotranspiration as well as more precipitation but different sites may get more of one than the other This throws off the so-called water balance evapotranspiration has been outweighing precipitation and draining soil water reserves.  As a grower and winemaker rather than a scientist Sona said he is especially interested in the weather details that affect his vines and also how specific varieties fare under changing conditions One thing that has become apparent recently is that Chardonnay is much less sensitive to changing weather patterns than Riesling While Chardonnay has shown little change in picking time the picking time for Riesling between 2015 and 2020 ranged from Sept which went from 20.75 to 24.25,” Sona said Yield also showed a considerable variation so this is basically the problem,” he said.  While Chardonnay vintages from 2015–2020 taste quite similar Riesling vintages have varied from year to year “The customer needs to be open to Riesling tasting much different from last year and (realize that) next year it will be tasting different than this year,” he said.  Sona said Koehler-Ruprecht vineyards are using several approaches —Soil management: The vineyards make their own compost adding stone powder and fermented biochar (which he called terra preta) “to build up the humus complex and also the water-holding capacity,” he said they sometimes wait two to six years before replanting an old vineyard which reduces soil compaction from farm equipment in the area.  —Lower canopy: Because sunshine hours have risen considerably over the past decade — 2,000-plus hours per year compared to the 30-year average of 1,639 hours — and precipitation during the growing season is decreasing new vineyards are managed with a smaller canopy “We need less leaves for the photosynthesis; and the less leaves we have —Wider canopy on top: Workers remove laterals in the grape zone to increase air movement and trim the canopy two or three times “but as late as possible” and in such a way that the top of the canopy remains wide to provide shade and prevent too much evaporation from occurring.  —Planting decisions: Total acidity has decreased in Riesling grapes dropping from 8 grams in the 1990s — 4 grams tartaric and 4 grams malic — to 6 grams of tartaric and no malic today One of the ways the vineyard is trying to counter that is by planting a historical variety called Gelber Orleans high-acid and low-sugar variety as a blending crop to boost acidity in Riesling The vineyards are also working with more vigorous rootstocks and looking into clones that have smaller bunches and looser berries Schultz said various climate models and the unique Geisenheim FACE (Free Air Carbon Dioxide Enrichment) facility which is cultivating Riesling and Cabernet Sauvignon under the 20-percent-higher carbon dioxide levels anticipated by 2050 provide glimpses into future conditions and their impacts on vineyards Under conditions with 20 percent higher carbon dioxide in the FACE vineyard grape berry moth had one additional generation per year “This type of result was completely unexpected but we now can give a hint to the industry and say if you want to use the dispersal of pheromone systems for this type of insect you’ll need new products by the year 2050 that at least are capable of controlling one additional generation,’” Schultz said.  Other FACE experiments have shown that elevated carbon dioxide concentration also alters bunch weight and cluster length in Riesling “The anatomy changes: the clusters become longer and get much heavier (but) cluster compactness doesn’t change,” he said I’m pretty sure there are certainly more surprises ahead.” Both Schultz and Sona agreed that growers need to begin to think forward if they hope to continue producing grapes for years to come “We cannot continue every year to do what we did in the 1990s Schultz likewise sees climate change as a hurdle rather than a brick wall.  We can adapt in a lot of ways — we can adapt canopy structure change row directions to decrease the impact of solar radiation and a lot of different things,” he said and website in this browser for the next time I comment Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" 2025-05-01T16:48:37-07:00May 1st, 2025|0 Comments 2025-05-01T10:34:58-07:00April 28th, 2025|0 Comments Use the search box to find a topic of interest, explore articles by topic or category in the main navigation links on every page, or view articles by issue on our Archives page. #comp-lvqlknop_r_comp-lwwdvtpl__item1 {aspect-ratio: 1;}The Plant BaseThe Plant Base is the go to B2B news platform for the plant-based food and beverage industry RefreshmentRefreshment is your ultimate resource for staying informed and up-to-date on the water cooler The Cell BaseThe Cell Base provides insights for professionals to stay informed exchange ideas and explore new cell-based opportunities SubscribeAccess more as a FoodBev subscriberSign up to FoodBev and unlock more insights from the international food and beverage industry. Subscribers have access to webinars, newsletters, publications and more... German scientists develop process to enhance polyphenol content in apple juice Get in touchWould you like to be interviewed by FoodBev Media or share a recent innovation with us?  Click here to contact us The Industry's Leading Publication for Wineries and Growers Germany and Australia as well as universities in California Oregon and Washington and several wineries who considered the impact of our changing climate on viticulture and winemaking practices in various wine production locations By far the most diverse conference geographically was the GiESCO conference that took place July 17-20 at Cornell University in Ithaca Organized by a group of Cornell researchers under the leadership of Dr the 22nd conference of the Group of International Experts of viniviticultural Systems for CoOperation (GiESCO) had 240 participants five universities in the United States and several from the research division of E The first three days of the conference focused on scientific presentations but also included a tour of Cornell AgriTech research sites and visits to commercial vineyards A post-conference tour took place on July 21-22 and participants went to Niagara Falls the Cornell Lake Erie Research and Extension Laboratory station Double A Vineyards and 21 Brix Winery.  was designated the “Professional Day,” and was available as a webinar to viticulturists and winemakers not at the conference but who were interested in learning more about the current research and its application to present-day viticulture and its implications for winemaking and six other countries gave talks that included a staggering amount of fascinating viticultural research Summaries of the presentations referenced here are available online in open access through IVES Conf Series at: https://ives-openscience.eu/ives-conference-series/giesco/giesco-2023/ Keynote talks at the GiESCO conference were given by three viticultural researchers:  Each of the keynote speakers was followed by some of the 26 brief talks listed below:  GiESCO meetings take place every two years The 2021 conference was scheduled to be hosted by Cornell University but was cancelled because of the Covid pandemic and postponed until this summer.  it was announced that the 2025 conference will be held at the University of Geisenheim in Germany on a date to be announced “in a few weeks.” A proposal by Embrapa of Bento Goncalves in Brazil has been pre-approved as the host for the 24th GiESCO conference in 2027 This article was published more than 1 year ago Avondale Sky winemaker Ben Swetnam watched his team harvesting golden green clusters of geisenheim 318 grapes and knew he made the right decision Three weeks earlier, before those white wine grapes were ripe and ready for picking, the vineyard was pelted by heavy rains, part of a storm system bearing down on Nova Scotia thanks to Hurricane Lee The skins of some of the waterlogged grapes split posing an immediate risk to the yield and quality of the crop but the long-range weather forecast suggested sunny days ahead “Rather than picking the grapes under-ripe and rotten who has been making the wine at Avondale Sky since 2008 resulting in grapes that will dominate – with citrus and tropical notes – the 2023 Tidal Bay release The geisenheim 318 vines near the winery in Newport Landing usually deliver two-and-a-half to three tonnes of grapes an acre with selective picking of the healthy berries It is yet another reason why Nova Scotia wineries are making less wine than usual this year Recently harvested geisenheim grapes wait to be processed at the Avondale Sky Estate this is going to be a light year for us and others,” he says “Most wineries are looking at 40 to 50 per cent of their normal production but the quality is going to be there.” (Nova Scotia’s 19 grape wineries typically produce more than 211,000 cases or just below 1.9 million litres of wine a year.) The deluge of rain from Hurricane Lee in September when the province faced polar vortex conditions – experiencing an almost 30-degree swing in temperature in 12 hours wineries can use large fans or fires to prevent frost damage in their vineyards subzero temperatures combined with wind speeds of up to 80 kilometres an hour meant there was no recourse to protect vines (Some grape growers in the province are reportedly considering geotextiles fabrics that are used to cover grapevines to protect against winter injury.) All of Nova Scotia’s vineyards were affected and the early reports were bleak. A post on the United Kingdom-based internationalwinechallenge.com summed up their dire situation: “2023 is a write-off.” Vinifera vines The delicate buds were damaged by the cold snap meaning the vine wouldn’t produce a crop this year the vines themselves were killed and need to be replaced (It takes three years before a grapevine produces healthy There was also initial concern about the viability of hybrid vines varieties made by breeding vinifera with labrusca or riparia grapes which represent the largest number of the 63 wine grape varieties cultivated in Nova Scotia proved their resiliency and managed to produce grapes for processing this year Lacking the name recognition of chardonnay or sauvignon blanc they are varieties only the geekiest of grape nuts know a Nova Scotia appellation that features white wine blends Rather than each winery creating its own generic wines they could promote a common style based on the mouth-watering character of the province’s white wines this is a taste of Nova Scotia in a glass,” veteran winemaker Gina Haverstock Tidal Bay was created to be an appellation system in the classic sense It dictates which grape varieties are permitted production standards (such as no oak and a maximum of 11 per cent alcohol) and requires the finished wines to be approved by an independent tasting panel prior to release These standards came from a committee of winemakers sommeliers and experts and are strictly enforced throughout the winemaking process The guidelines insist that Tidal Bay wines reflect “the classic Nova Scotian style: lively fresh green fruit “Nova Scotia wines have a strong character … Tidal Bay was a way to capture that and market it with some cachet,” says Peter Gamble the consultant who helped the Nova Scotia industry develop the Tidal Bay appellation system in 2009 Six Nova Scotia wineries released Tidal Bay wines from the initial 2010 vintage which celebrate their release with an annual event With 20 different permitted grape varieties each winery takes a different approach but they all end up with refreshing white wines that are made to be enjoyed young The geisenheim 318 vines usually deliver two-and-a-half to three tonnes of grapes an acre Due to erratic and at times unseasonal weather this season Tidal Bay is attracting attention outside of the province as well It is one of the wines Lightfoot & Wolfville is selling in the U.K More interest at home and abroad is likely to follow as sommeliers and wine buyers continue to embrace wines made with low alcohols There is also increasing support in emerging regions and quality wines made from hybrid grapes “I think we’re going to see renewed interest in the hybrid wines we make,” says Mike Mainguy wineries and growers have increased plantings of vinifera varieties but those tender varieties are more site-specific compared with a workhorse variety such as l’Acadie which has grown to represent one-third of the plantings in Nova Scotia’s vineyards Wineries that need to replant vineyards after this year’s cold snap will have a decision to make about which varieties they plant: the more delicate vinifera versus hardier hybrid “How much are they going to keep investing in risk?” The most recent vine census from Grape Growers Association of Nova Scotia shows an industry ratio of 35 per cent vinifera varieties to 65 per cent hybrids Luckett is the province’s third-largest wine producer following the Devonian Coast wine group of Jost Mainguy and his team make a portfolio of white rosé and sparkling wines from two family-owned vineyards comprised of 30 acres at the winery and another 22-acre parcel called the Avonport Vineyard They also purchase fruit from independent growers Luckett processes 75 to 80 per cent hybrid grapes There wasn’t any crop harvested from those vinifera vines this year while the hybrid varieties only yielded roughly half the average production but that doesn’t help anything,” says Mainguy so let’s try and make it the best we can.” all wines must follow a strict set of technical standards which are enforced throughout the winemaking process from growing to bottling and more Avondale Sky Tidal Bay.Carolina Andrade/The Globe and Mail For the 2022 vintage, Avondale Sky used a blend of l’Acadie blanc, vidal blanc, geisenheim 318, frontenac gris, osceola muscat and ortega, each fermented individually. The resulting style offers depth of flavour as well as refreshment, with peach, citrus and apple fruit accented by some honey and white grape notes. Drink now. Available direct, avondalesky.com Made with l’Acadie, seyval blanc, riesling and geisenheim, this zesty white wine strikes a nice balance between lime zest, ripe apple and honeyed notes. The finish is refreshing with a lingering flinty flavour. Drink now to 2025. Available direct, benjaminbridge.com Organically grown l’Acadie, chardonnay, riesling, geisenheim and siegerrebe are featured in this fresh and fruity white wine. The flavour is marked by green apple and pear flavours that carry through to a lingering finish with saline and stony notes. An exciting style. Drink now to 2026. Available direct, lightfootandwolfville.com Report an editorial error Report a technical issue Editorial code of conduct Check your horoscope to learn how the stars align for you today Sharpen your mind with today’s Cryptic Crossword Refine your strategy and solve the Daily Sudoku Relax and engage with the Daily Concise Crossword Authors and topics you follow will be added to your personal news feed in Following Christopher Waters is the wine and spirits writer for The Globe and Mail Waters served 21 years as co-founder and editor of Canada’s largest circulation wine magazine and author of a nationally syndicated column Before that he was an arts and entertainment reporter at The St Catharines Standard and assistant editor at the music and entertainment monthly Waters is an instructor at the Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute and an internationally recognized wine judge having served as head judge and organizer of the InterVin International Wine Awards from 2009 to 2019 Christopher Waters abides by The Globe and Mail Editorial Code of Conduct Tony Keller is a columnist with The Globe and Mail He joined The Globe in 1991 as an editorial writer; over a career of more than 30 years he has also served as editor of The Financial Post Magazine managing editor of Maclean’s and a TV news anchor on BNN (now BNN-Bloomberg) He returned to The Globe in 2013 to become the paper's editorials editor and remained in that position until 2022 he’s a graduate of Duke University and Yale Law School and has also been a visiting fellow at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law and the Wilson Center in Washington D.C He’s been nominated three times for the National Newspaper Award for editorial writing Andrew Willis is a business columnist for the Report on Business Working in business communications and journalism for three decades from 2010 to 2016 he was senior vice-president of communications for Brookfield Asset Management a leading global alternative asset management company which exposed the ways that Canadian police services mishandle sexual assault cases training and practices around sexual violence Doolittle’s other notable projects include the “Power Gap”, an investigation of gender inequities in the workforce, and “Secret Canada,” which examines Canada’s broken freedom of information system She is the author of two books, “Had It Coming – What’s Fair In The Age of #MeToo?,” which was shortlisted for the RBC Taylor Prize for non-fiction, and “Crazy Town: The Rob Ford Story,” both of which were national bestsellers Jameson Berkow is the capital markets reporter for The Globe and Mail to cover the economic implications of cannabis legalization He left in early 2020 to start an entrepreneurship magazine and rejoined The Globe in early 2022 to cover financial regulation and governance for Globe Advisor With more than a decade of experience in financial journalism Jameson was most recently the senior reporter for BNN Bloomberg (formerly the Business News Network) where he led live daily coverage of major business news from the television station’s Toronto headquarters He previously worked as the station’s Western Canada bureau chief based in Calgary where his reporting on pipeline politics and the 2014 oil price crash was nominated for numerous awards.\nHis series of reports from Fort McMurray Alberta in 2015 was a finalist for the RTDNA Dave Rogers Award Jameson was the technology reporter for the Financial Post in Toronto where he created and hosted the FP Tech Desk podcast and authored the weekly Startup Spotlight profile series Jameson got his start in journalism in 2007 as a fact-checker for Toronto Life magazine where his first byline was for a story about two dogs getting married Have you signed up yet for my twice-weekly e-mail newsletter, Carrick on Money? Subscribe here Paul Attfield is a reporter at The Globe and Mail Born in England and raised both there and in France Paul is now a dual citizen of Canada and the United Kingdom He has called Toronto home since moving there from London in 2005 Working in The Globe’s sports department since 2006 Paul started out covering predominantly soccer and rugby he has become more of a general assignment reporter writing about pretty much anything involving a bat Temur Durrani is a national reporter for The Globe and Mail a Globe business podcast about how our failures shape us he was a technology reporter for The Globe’s Report on Business he broke news and wrote extensively about Canadian firms like Shopify turbulence in global cryptocurrency markets A globe-trotting newshound hailing from British Columbia and even the Raptors’ historic run to the NBA final Before joining The Globe in February of 2022 where he reported investigative stories and business features for broadcast and digital audiences he was a staffer at the Winnipeg Free Press A juror since 2021 for the annual Dalton Camp Award which grants young writers with a $10,000 prize for the best essay on the link between media and democracy TV and radio panels to provide news analysis He speaks in six languages fluently or conversationally (guess which ones!) takes his caffeinated beverages very seriously Carrie Tait is a reporter in The Globe and Mail’s Calgary Bureau Her coverage ranges from race relations in her home province of Saskatchewan to the lighthearted topic of skiing cats in Alberta Carrie has reported on the wildfires and floods in Alberta and British Columbia; how Cargill’s meat-processing plant in High River became the site of Canada’s largest single outbreak of COVID-19; and naming trends among Calgary Stampede participants she covered energy for the Globe’s Report on Business and has also reported for the National Post She joined the National Post’s Calgary bureau in 2008 Barry Hertz is the Deputy Arts Editor and Film Editor for The Globe and Mail He previously served as the Executive Producer of Features for the National Post and was a manager and writer at Maclean’s before that Barry’s arts and culture writing has also been featured in several publications, including Reader’s Digest and NOW Magazine. His favourite film franchise is the Fast and Furious series and he will offer no apologies for that fact Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre and his wife Anaida Poilievre depart a polling station after voting in Ottawa on Monday Welcome to The Globe and Mail’s comment community. This is a space where subscribers can engage with each other and Globe staff. Non-subscribers can read and sort comments but will not be able to engage with them in any way. Click here to subscribe If you would like to write a letter to the editor, please forward it to letters@globeandmail.com. Readers can also interact with The Globe on Facebook and Twitter Welcome to The Globe and Mail’s comment community This is a space where subscribers can engage with each other and Globe staff We aim to create a safe and valuable space for discussion and debate If you do not see your comment posted immediately it is being reviewed by the moderation team and may appear shortly We aim to have all comments reviewed in a timely manner Comments that violate our community guidelines will not be posted UPDATED: Read our community guidelines here We have closed comments on this story for legal reasons or for abuse. For more information on our commenting policies and how our community-based moderation works, please read our Community Guidelines and our Terms and Conditions Listen NowSaveShareDownloadJohannes Aufricht is the third-generation owner of his family business, Winery Aufricht, in southwest Germany.Emily Haavik for MarketplaceAt Winery Aufricht in southwest Germany owner Johannes Aufricht has been working to expand and improve his family business walking through the cellar where the wine is made with a panoramic view of the sparkling blue lake winegrowing was almost impossible in this location “Most of the years were too cold to get nice results in grape growing,” Aufricht said But for vineyard owners who have been sticking it out in cooler the heat brings new business opportunities the warming climate has made it easier to ripen grapes “We can do sparkling wines from barely ripe grapes up to heavier styles of red wines,” he said cool-climate growers like Aufricht struggled But there are costs to the changing climate too Hail and unpredictable weather are expensive to manage “Despite the fact that it has been getting warmer continuously, there’s still a lot of variability,” said Hans Schultz, president of Geisenheim University in Central Germany The university has over 100 years of records on weather Schultz said those records show that despite the erratic weather the overall warming trend is good for wine in cooler places “We can grow grape varieties now which we couldn’t grow 25 Schultz said growers will need to prepare for change also stand to benefit from a warmer climate “There’s a lot of new opportunities that are becoming available because the season is seemingly being pushed longer now,” said Bree Stock, who owns Constant Crush Wine a consulting company in Oregon’s Willamette Valley This cool region is known for its pinot noir but Stock encourages her clients to try growing new varietals gamay noir all ripen three to six weeks later than pinot noir does,” she said Stock is seeing new growers from warmer regions like California and France now buying land in the Willamette Valley where they’re counting on having a longer horizon “People who are coming in have young children who they’re hoping to pass the vineyard down to,” Stock said As iconic places like Burgundy begin to struggle Stock said the Willamette Valley and other cool regions can fill the gap Johannes Aufricht said his winery on Lake Constance is part of that trend He’s selling more and more wine throughout Europe and the U.S “I will see a huge opportunity to gain international reputation because of those changing climate conditions in other well-known wine growing areas,” he said Aufricht knows his region will eventually face more extreme weather he’s looking forward to a few decades of sunshine Sign up for the Marketplace newsletter to get the day’s biggest business stories straight to your inbox every weekday evening the modern wine industry in Armenia has been thriving despite the challenges the country has had to address This has resulted in a significant increase in employment opportunities in the wine industry As the country reopens and summer approaches wine sales and tourism have begun to see the benefits From cozy bars and restaurants to large wineries wine professionals are in high demand in Armenia The sector is in dire need of new entrants who can bring successful With an education legacy worth celebrating, the EVN Wine Academy in collaboration with Geisenheim University Germany has developed the Enology and Wine Business Certificate Program promoting wine industry development in Armenia This program aims to fill the gap between wine producers and science in Armenia The curriculum offers a specialized concentration in winemaking and the wine industry as well as rigorous on-the-job preparation preparing young professionals for the job market The program incorporates an interactive 18-month curriculum in the English language It features professional internships at wineries Classes at EVN Wine Academy are conducted two to four times a week in the evenings Fall internships last four weeks when companies are busy with harvesting The program includes the following main modules: The EVN Wine Academy has created and introduced an online curriculum that uses special videoconferencing technologies to simulate a real-world classroom environment Local and international students can enroll remotely from anywhere on the globe thanks to this technology Students who complete the in-class program receive a diploma from the EVN Wine Academy and Geisenheim University upon graduation A certificate is issued to online students EVN Wine Academy online to earn a certificate; in person study to earn a diploma Cooperation with Geisenheim adds international credibility to Armenia’s deep history in wine making Mount Nittany Winery is bringing the award season home to central Pennsylvania We won five medals at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Wine Competition in January to receive the “Best of Category – Sweet Blush” for our 2017 Nittany Mountain Blush at the Atlantic Seaboard Wine Association Wine Competition And we were just awarded five more medals at the most recent 2019 Pennsylvania Winery Association (PWA) competition held at the Nittany Lion Inn included a GOLD for 2017 Nittany Mountain Blush SILVER for 2017 Cabernet Franc and Geisenheim and BRONZE for Nittany Mountain White and Moscato winemaker Scott Hilliker talked about the path that led him to winemaking “Several years ago I took a trip up to the Finger Lakes in New York and spent some time with winery owners and winemakers while I was there I started reading books about winemaking and started making wine in my basement at home I have a bachelor’s degree in Biological Sciences from North Carolina State University The whole winemaking process was very interesting to me After working as a quality control analyst at a chemical company for five years I went back to school to become a winemaker.” Scott and his family moved to Central Pennsylvania eight years ago and he started making wine at Mount Nittany Winery in 2015 Scott is looking forward to another great year in 2019 In addition to the wines already in our repertoire we are making some small batch new wines this year: a dry Linden Vale Rose and a sweet Moscato Scott’s favorite thing about making wine in Central PA is the differences that each year brings “Our weather is always changing from year to year and the different vintages make things fun in the winery and in the vineyard Never knowing how the vintage is going to turn out keeps me on my toes,” he says “Being at Mount Nittany Vineyard and Winery is amazing Steve and Linda Weaver (who took over for Linda’s parents The best selection of Mount Nittany wines will be found at our tasting room, just six miles from the Penn State campus on the side of Mount Nittany (300 Houser Road, Centre Hall). You can also find our wines at the Wegmans, Weis, Giant, and Giant Eagle. Or, order online at mtnittanywinery.com “What’s funny to me is that after spending so much time telling other people’s stories I conclude my time here by writing about my own.” and admission is free for students with valid identification The Penn State Alumni Association will host Senior Week at University Park for the Class of 2025 from April 28 to May 2 It’s that time of year: Christmas Market Season Here is a list of some of our favorite markets Be ready to celebrate the season and grab yourself a steaming mug of glühwein Not all market websites have been updated for the 2023/2024 season but we will be updating this directory often to ensure your information is up to date Scheduled events and dates are subject to change Please research each market prior to travel; some markets require tickets or advanced registration and have limited capacity Romantische Weihnachtsmarkt am Schloss Bad Homburg The material for these fasteners ranges from zinc-coated metal to vinyl an automaker’s R&D department decided to automate how its workers used electric hand tools to turn plastic screws for fastening certain vehicle body parts.   Automating the process would bring consistency and efficiency reduce errors and eliminate injuries from repetitive motion To turn each plastic screw without stripping the fastener’s threads and keep pace with the vehicle production line the automaker’s R&D team determined the car maker would need a robot with a tooling end that could rotate 360 deg. monitor torque continuously and communicate via PROFINET continuous rotation at the joint of the robot’s tool interface.   READ MORE: Driving Robotics and Embedded Motion Applications with Next-Generation Servo Technology the customized solution for the automaker required high-performance motion-control which called for a specific kind of technology a slip ring is an electromechanical device that allows the transmission of power and electrical signals from a stationary to a rotating structure brushes provide electrical contact between the rotating ring and the assembly’s stationary parts The brushes ride on the ring and the brush block assembly mounts on the stationary structure.  The slip ring portion of the solution Moog GAT supplied is critical for not only the transmission of power but also monitoring torque since there must be an unbroken exchange of data between the tool end of the robot arm and its control unit Unlike the carbon brushes found in many slip rings the slip ring Moog GAT chose for this application combines gold spring wire and gold-plated slip tracks Assmann said this gold-gold technology extends the slip ring’s service life drastically reduces any maintenance and ensures high signal quality.   READ MORE: Force Control Brings Dexterity and Sensitivity to Adaptive Robots Paired with the slip ring is a Moog rotary union which can accommodate up to eight channels the rotary union includes two channels through which the automaker’s robot can transmit air to create a vacuum up to 10 bar for holding and releasing the plastic screws Moog GAT rotary unions can also transfer media such as oil “About 85% of our solutions are customized with the client,” Assmann adds rotation will need a slip ring and/or a rotary union.”  the automaker’s R&D team tapped Universal Robots’ UR3e the smallest industrial collaborative robot arm in the company’s portfolio so Moog developed a Rotokombi weighing 1 kg relies on the Rotokombi to guide each screw using a vacuum and a calibrated control loop that automatically halts the tightening process upon reaching the maximum torque providing precision and control to the process.  READ MORE: Universal Robots’ Latest Cobot is Redesigned for Palletizing Moog’s team worked with Universal Robot and the automaker’s R&D team to design and assemble the 1-kg rotary union and slip ring The ultra-lightweight Rotokombi developed for the automaker’s fastener-turning application stands in contrast to other such units that Moog GAT has developed for applications like sheet metal rolling and tunnel boring; for some of these applications engineers have designed and manufactured Rotokombis weighing up to 4,000 kg.   Once the current test phase ends for the robotic screwdriver the automaker’s R&D department foresees using seven UR3e robots with lightweight Rotokombi The robots will be affixed on automated trolleys for the induction loops of the production line to screw together various body parts.  This application story was submitted by Bill Perry a new solar paneling system designed to support agriculture while providing green energy has shown positive results in vineyards around the world—but its high cost and depleted federal funding is slowing its uptake in the U.S That’s his term for the viticultural version of agrivoltaics, a technique first proposed in a 1981 research paper by Armin Zastrow and physicist Adolf Goetzberger, the founder of Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems The authors envisioned a solar array positioned on a farm in such a way that it does double duty as an energy source and as a means of enhancing agriculture The technology is still in the experimental phase agrivoltaic systems have been proving beneficial to animal husbandry crop production—including viticulture—in an era of climate change While noteworthy results are coming from systems installed in vineyards globally high costs have deterred winemakers and their uptake has hit another potential roadblock with federal funding for environmental innovations like these now under threat or about three-quarters of an acre in size Geisenheim’s multifunctional system is installed above the vines the photovoltaic cells embedded in clear glass modules that span a horizontal frame held aloft by metal posts The panels are powered by motors that use an algorithm geared toward the site to rotate and fold them in response to sunlight Installed above one- to three-year-old Riesling vines which need more moisture and UV protection With climate change stressing plants and pushing them beyond their capacity to hold balanced acidity and sugars an agrivoltaic array like this offers winemakers the chance to go “back to the future,” says Stoll to a time when temperatures were more appropriate for the cool-climate grapes the temperature is three to four degrees Celsius less and higher acidity.” The panels help curb evaporation during drought and the soils beneath them retain more moisture the Geisenheim system has all the bells and whistles that an agrivoltaic system in a vineyard might need Gutters direct rainwater from the top of the panels to locations in the plot that best irrigate the vines A heating wire woven along the frame switches on automatically to protect the vines from frost if temperatures fall below five degrees Celsius and a built-in UVC device uses shortwave radiation to sterilize the vines against downy mildew which is less of a problem anyway because the vines are shielded from rain Vineyard vehicles and researcher laptops can be charged via electric outlets on the system so they can be folded like an accordion and put away during high winds or moved to new rows of young vines in the future They were comfortable with partially covering vines because “traditionally farmers planted fruit trees to provide shade for white grape varieties,” explains Martine Escudié With an identical control plot right beside it plus sensors and a weather station collecting real-time data the Escudiés can measure the system’s effects “The main benefit we have observed is faster vine growth,” she says with “slow and optimal grape maturation” for a better balance between acidity and alcohol and “an unprecedented range of flavors” in the wines the panels can be adjusted to a horizontal position The vines don’t suffer drought because the ground cover retains more moisture in summer All of this contributes to 30 percent higher yields “We strongly believe in agrivoltaics,” Martine Escudié says We’ll see the first results in three years.” Larger producers are taking note. In 2023, González Byass partnered with the Spanish utility Iberdola on the Winesolar project at Finca Daramezas in drought-prone Toledo where the agrivoltaic panels tilt automatically over nine-year-old vines of the indigenous grape variety Airén and atmosphere sensors measuring several parameters that allow us to make decisions and improve the algorithm,” says González Byass’s agricultural engineer Miguel Tejerina Evapotranspiration at the Toledo site has been reduced by 30 percent; the plants beneath the panels require 20 percent less irrigation; and the soil temperature has been reduced by 15 percent on average reducing our carbon dioxide footprint.” While it’s too early to see the results in vinification they have noticed a reduction in the pH of the wine from the site although many wineries now use solar power agrivoltaics are nearly nonexistent in U.S exploring “incorporating vertically installed agrivoltaics at select vineyard sites as certain vineyards feature sun-facing perimeter fencing,” says Allen At Somerset Gourmet Farm in Somerset owner David Harde replaced some rows of low-producing Petit Syrah with 43 bifacial panels in 2023 which soak in both morning and afternoon sun generating 20 to 25 percent more electricity than fixed horizontal or inclined modules “The agricultural benefits are intermittent shade during the hottest summer days for the ripening grapes,” says Harde “and the extra shading may help protect against fruit sunburn.” He expects to note the difference in brix and grape quality in this year’s harvest where agrivoltaic panels cool the winery and power the new tasting room while shielding the vines from the borderlands’ heat and sun Vintners may not be able to change the climate but they’re attempting to control microclimate through innovative new vine orientation and training approaches As the Trump administration attempts to defund and depopulate agencies working on clean energy federal funding for agrivoltaic research projects is in jeopardy Government assistance is key for small growers because agrivoltaics do not run cheap With the additional materials needed to elevate photovoltaic cells above the crops and sink the posts further into the ground to support the extra height agrivoltaics are pricier than conventional solar a typical five-hectare array costs around €3.5 million with a return on investment in 15 to 20 years “I’ve tried to pursue this with many winemakers, but so far I’ve not been successful,” laments Majdi Abou Najm, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Department of Land, Air and Water Resources at the University of California at Davis “Research into agrivoltaics in grapes in California does not exist Growers here want to see a system work first I am hearing reports from growers that heat is becoming a real problem for the grapes so one piece of advice is if you have 10 acres It will allow the grapes to receive fair amounts of sun it will shield them from extreme heat events and it will add to a winery producing their energy locally in a green way.” As to the Trump regime’s attacks on green initiatives like agrivoltaics will step up and try to compensate for it.” He adds “I definitely see agrivoltaics as a way forward for the wine industry.” For regenerative viticulture to make a meaningful impact on the wine industry it needs to be adopted by both boutique wineries and high-volume producers—can it be done demand for Mexican beer and spirits fuels industry growth severe drought in the region complicates that success story and calls for a more sustainable approach Intranet Contact us As OIV commemorates its centennial on International Women's Day 2024 we turn the spotlight to women's role in the vine and wine sector “I think that things have definitely improved but at the same time they are strangely… unchanged?” I know all women in the sector will agree with me when I say that we cannot imagine wine It is a privilege to be part of the OIV during its anniversary (or “during its anniversary period”) and I wish the organisation all the best for many arriving at this stage and being able to enjoy working in the OIV has been a long string of happy circumstances becoming passionate about fermentation and wine chemistry joining the Romanian Association of Authorised Winetasters participating in national and then international contests – all these led to the present It was a path full of unexpected opportunities and mostly right choices I don’t think it would have been easier if I were a man or that it was harder because I was a woman I am honoured to be part of Romania's team of experts at the OIV It helped me improve my courses for students while also (hopefully) making a difference for the international wine sector It is an organisation that places importance on the expertise and capacity of its Members studying “Beverage Technology” the number of female students was very low That was also the case for the study course “Viticulture and Enology” Most of the female students had a “wine background” due to family wineries That did not change in the following Master`s program Female Enologists were often offered a job in a Laboratory or in Marketing That was also the case at the beginning of my career Already during my time as a Master Student and later as a PhD Student I did not accept this I developed a new technique for the de-alcoholization of wine which was built in a commercial size and led to very good results at that time I was considered to be “crazy” Now this is one of the most important issues in winemaking due to climate change After some years working in a famous German Export Winery I moved to California and started working there Female winemakers with no family winery in the back were not so “rare” as in Europe This was also the case at the winery where I worked After some years of gaining a lot of experience and after many training sessions in avoiding “discrimination” I was chosen to take on the position as chair of the “Institute for Oenology” at Geisenheim University After all my training in California I thought “Welcome back to the real world” I think it was very helpful that I never accepted limits which were set for me by other people You need to recognise and accept limits by yourself.  Being very interested in history I admire women who already in the Middle Ages were going beyond what was expected and tolerated for women Hildegard of Bingen or Leonore of Aquitaine are some very great examples These days the vitivinicultural sector has changed dramatically I can see that the number of female students has extremely increased Technical lectures or topics are not only interesting for male students Reflecting upon the idea of gender parity in my childhood A phrase comes to my mind: the survival of the fittest Speaking one’s mind was not a right that a girl the reward of speaking one’s mind was worthwhile The men in my family were not ready to leave any aspect of the production or business of wine to women I suspect that’s why I moved to the more cerebral aspects of wine although I would like to think that passion and sheer intellectual curiosity were what drove me Hôtel Bouchu dit d’Esterno • 1 rue Monge • 21000 Dijon |  © OIV 2025 Consumers got the chance to taste dozens of outstanding wines in Chicago, with upcoming … The owner of Stoller and Chehalem wineries was devoted to the future of Willamette Valley … Inside the first U.S. location of the French luxury retailer, guests can enjoy fine wine at … Phase one of the Viticulture and Winery Technology program’s new home, funded by a $10 … The Tuscan wine company has purchased a minority stake in Tenute delle Terre Nere; De … While the White House has paused tariffs on foreign wines at 10 percent for now, the trade … Urban green can be complemented by Living walls (LW). Knowledge of LW, including technique or their cooling effects, is well discussed, but little published data on plant diversity, design and development in LWs exists. The plants themselves determine whether LWs achieve their intended benefits. However, LW plants are exposed to extreme conditions such as temperature or drought stress. We observed that Tellima grandiflora ‘Rubra’, Waldsteinia ternata, Pachysandra terminalis, and Heuchera Hybride ‘Purple Petticoats’ were the most attractive all year. Ajuga tenorii ‘Mauro’, Alchemilla caucasica, Hosta sieboldii ‘Harry van Trier’, Glechoma hederacea, and Geum coccineum ‘Carlskaer’ showed a nice ornamental effect and flowering during summer. The ferns and Waldsteinia ternata showed delayed growth but nice leaf texture gradually. We saw differences in winter survival rates depending on minimum temperature in winter. The tested plants developed a special vertical growth form and height. We observed various results at different expositions but found suitable species for each exposition. With these results, we derived a table of plants along with their suitability for LWs and determining conditions. Volume 2 - 2023 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fhort.2023.1091026 This article is part of the Research TopicMethods and Protocols in Floriculture and LandscapesView all 5 articles Introduction: Urban green can be complemented by Living walls (LW) including technique or their cooling effects but little published data on plant diversity The plants themselves determine whether LWs achieve their intended benefits LW plants are exposed to extreme conditions such as temperature or drought stress we observed plant development in a textile-based LW (mat) over a three-year experiment under a temperate oceanic climate in the south west of Germany The aim was to establish higher plant diversity for use in LWs and geophytes) that require high soil moisture The mat was soil-free and had to be overwatered with a nutrient solution The perennials were grouped in the plant module “cascade” (tall hanging plants) and “ground cover” (low-spreading plants) We created four experimental walls exposed to the south and east and adapted the plant modules to the lighting conditions of the experiment wall The modules were pre-cultivated and attached to the experimental walls in a randomised design and repetition of four We determined the visual attractiveness and additional parameters of individual plants Results: We observed that Tellima grandiflora ‘Rubra’ and Heuchera Hybride ‘Purple Petticoats’ were the most attractive all year Hosta sieboldii ‘Harry van Trier’ and Geum coccineum ‘Carlskaer’ showed a nice ornamental effect and flowering during summer The ferns and Waldsteinia ternata showed delayed growth but nice leaf texture gradually Discussion and conclusion: We saw differences in winter survival rates depending on minimum temperature in winter The tested plants developed a special vertical growth form and height We observed various results at different expositions but found suitable species for each exposition we derived a table of plants along with their suitability for LWs and determining conditions Eppel (2015) compared LW systems of different manufacturers and showed that plant selection is often made without considering the location conditions. It is assumed that proven species are used for plant selection. Plant losses are caused by plant pests, drought stress, or the technique of the systems (Roth-Kleyer and Gunkel, 2014; Eppel, 2015) LW studies: (Cameron et al., 2014; Hunter et al., 2014; Günther et al., 2016; Riley, 2017; Radić et al., 2019; Charoenkit and Yiemwattana, 2021) call for more research on plants in LW Plants in LWs have to deal with special conditions We have described three factors that influence plant vigor: (1) The environmental conditions and climate surrounding the plant and its growing space which describes the conditions in the substrate or area where the plant is rooted and where the plant is supplied with water and nutrients the competition among the different plants within a LW system unnatural level and are exposed to a new type of interaction they must cope with shading from other overlapping plants This study aimed to test a higher variety of plants for their suitability in LWs The project was set up as interdisciplinary research It integrated a scientific experimental design with the demands of common plant design in landscape architecture and knowledge from horticulture We created a field experiment with differently exposed walls a plant selection adapted to the conditions The plant modules were tested continuously for three years under all seasons The following research questions were explored: • What does the plant look like during different seasons and are there differences in plant aesthetics during the experiment years and competition behavior changed in vertical planting Is there different development depending on plant position And what are the learnings from the different planting variants (cascade and groundcover) • How susceptible are the plantings to pests or pathogens • Is there a difference in development depending on the exposure of the experimental walls • Which methodology works best for describing the suitability of a plant In addition to our previous studies we describe in this article the results of all single plants and give detailed information about their characteristics The mats remained on the walls until the end of the experiment (September 2019) Necessary interventions were maintenance and replanting of failed plants after winter Figure 1 Experimental set up: Steps during the experiment run and the four experimental walls in August 2018 The highest maintenance effort required was the irrigation and fertilisation of the mats (see (Hietel et al., 2022; Stollberg et al., 2022) The irrigation ran automatically at frequent intervalls The LW system was fertilized with a nutrient solution (35 mg N L-1): “Ferty 6” (6% N 0,3% Mineral elements (Planta Düngemittel GmbH; 93,128 Regenstauf) as a basis which was supplemented by a nitrogen component (pH balancing) Other maintenance steps were the cutting of a few plant species We collected the plant material from the cutting and determined the dry mass we observed whether a plant had fallen out completely and replanted it in May at the latest The planting position of the plants is vertical (90°) to the experimental wall due to the flat system (mat) Table 1 Construction of the mat and schematic illustration of the root positions and root position documented at the final evaluation we tested 34 perennials as well as geophytes (e.g we found that geophytes are not suitable for the mat; thus We ordered the perennials as young plants or in a 9-pot (tb9x9) it was not possible to get all species young it was possible to see which plants have survived winter we ordered the plants after we detected the missing plants all the plants that had a high potential of failure were ordered in Autumn 2018 Figure 3 Photos of the plants which were used in the experiment Statistical analyses were performed with IBM SPSS Statistic 25 Since the vitality and ornamental effect data are ordinally scaled we calculated the mean with standard deviation The data were tested for significant differences using a non-parametric Kruskal–Wallis test (multiple comparisons: all in pairs) and the Dunn–Bonferroni test as a post hoc test We measured once a month and formed the mean or median from four repetition we formed averages for the vegetation periods (= three month with four repetition per month) We tested if data were significant different for ornamental effect between exposition in a vegetation period for growth height between expositions and vegetation periods for shoot-drymass between exposition and plant position at the final evaluation We visually assessed the individual plants once a month over the entire experiment using the rating method of the AK Pflanzenverwendung of the Bund deutscher Staudengärtner, 2013 (Association of German Perennial Gardeners) (Table 2). We rated the visual appearance according to parameters and a scale (Table 2) We did not assess dead plants or those that were dormant The evaluation ranged from 1 (very poor) to 3 The AK Pflanzenverwendung also weighted the sum of all the parameters It must be noted that individual parameters influence each other independent consideration of the parameters does not make sense Table 2 Explanation of the rating parameters and the rating scale with the weighting of1 AK Pflanzenverwendung To determine the suitability of the individual plant species, we have calculated the high score values in different periods and qualities in with the single rating parameters (see Table 1 in 01_Supplementary Material) we determined whether individual plant species are suitable for LWs To calculate values for suitability, we first take the number of months of the whole year, summer, or winter. Please note that some plants were replaced and therefore not tested during the entire experiment run. For these species, we calculated the corresponding values for suitability (see 2. in 02_Supplementary Data) We multiplied the number of months with the rating value: 3 (low) and 7 (nice) for the leaf ornamental effect The calculated values were the basis for the evaluation of the rating data These values were compared with the rating data from individual species We determined the median for every month for every plant species and exposure We summed up the median for the whole year We compared these cumulative ratings with the calculated rating values and determined the suitability using different rating parameters We summed up the suitability value for each species The high leaf-ornamental effect was determined according to the period We documented the growth form of the different species by drawing and controlling them. From the drawings, we grouped the species in 9 categories. The categories lean on the elaborated growth form of (Günther et al., 2016) We documented the number of plants that failed after the winter and listed the proportion of surviving plants [%] related to the target number The failures between May and October were also documented if the roots grew in the irrigation mat (non-woven) and we observed this on the front of the non-woven mat we calculated a parameter that provides an overview of the plants’ development and suitability for LWs The single parameters are explained in the results and summarised as final results these species (except Lysimachia nummularia ‘Aurea’) Glechoma hederacea and Geum coccineum ‘Carlskaer’ showed occasional flowering and Hakonechloa macra ‘Aureola’ exhibited an eye-catching leaf colour Figure 4 Rating of all plants in the Ground cover (A) north (C) west and (D) east during the experiment run Figure 5 Rating of all plants in the Cascade (A) north Other plant species did not have a conspicuous leaf texture but spread throughout the mat with green leaves and ensured a closed canopy We observed this for Hemerocallis x cultorum ‘Mini Stella’ It is considered good if a few species in the plantation provide closed cover Glechoma hederacea spread so much that it overran other plants We planted Carex muskingumensis in 2019 to replace Carex muskingumensis ‘Little Midge’ but the species was far too tall for vertical planting and covered other plants The ferns (Asplenium scolopendrium, Polypodium vulgare, Polystichum acrostichoides, and Polystichum setiferum ‘Proliferum’) and Waldsteinia ternata in particular showed delayed growth. Over time, we saw good development and a nice leaf texture (Figures 4A, C, D, 5A, C, D) Carex dolichostachya “Silver Sceptre” showed brown leaf tips We recognised problems with pest and pathogens for Lysimachia nummularia ‘Aurea’ with mealy root aphids and we rarely saw mildew on Ajuga tenorii ‘Mauro’ and frequently for Filipendula palmata ‘Rosa Schleier’ Figure 6 Determination of suitability depending on the winter survival rate of the individual plants Mean of proportion of surviving plants [%] Data not normally distributed as per a Kruskal–Wallis test with post hoc test (all pairwise) Significant differences between winter 2017–2018 and 2018–2019 are given with* Letters indicate significant differences between the expositions Suitability based on survival rate after the cold winter of 2018 Some plants showed dynamic development. In this regard, the rating parameters differed, and evaluation values changed from one month to the next. We also recognised that plant development varied in between the repetition in one variant. We made these observations for Omphalodes verna, Polystichum setiferum ‘Proliferum’, Hemerocallis x cultorum ‘Mini Stella’ and Tradescantia x andersoniana ‘Purwell Giant’ (Figure 5A) Especially for Tradescantia x andersoniana ‘Purwell Giant’ we saw a big difference between the mat which hung at the upper part of the experimental wall to the mat which hung in the lower part of the wall Bergenia’ Baby Doll’, Luzula nivea, Ophiopogon japonicus ‘Sparkler’ and Ophiopogon planiscapus presented an attractive picture but were too small, with too few individuals represented, and therefore not visible (Figure 4) Asplenium scolopendrium showed the best performance in the north it was highly vulnerable and survived only because of a bigger plant that provided shade for Hakonechloa macra “Aureola” we saw the best development in the north and the worst in the south and west Polypodium vulgare were smaller and hidden in the west and east while it performed really well in the north Pachysandra terminalis made for an attractive picture in the north and east and was less impressive in the west Table 3 Final list of plants’ suitability for LWs Furthering Günther et al. (2016) work, we described the different growth forms of the plant species (Figure 7) We differentiated the “growing stage” and the “established plant” We saw that some plants showed another growth form shortly after planting at a juvenile stage (“growing stage”) We observed this growth for plants that were resprouting We visualised a “growing stage” form if the adult form differed from this juvenile growth we categorised three different forms: (a) standout Standout means that the plants have less connection to the mat and reach out in all directions Upright/spreading plants are attached to the mat Direct upright plants face the sun and do not have a connection to the mat or grow in another direction There were also plants that stayed in the juvenile growth form while growing poorly we did not observe an adult form and could not visualise it The “established plant” was categorised in three groups with subdivisions. The three groups are called (I) upright and solitary, (II) areal spreading, and (III) falling (Figure 7) the form upright and solitary describes plants that did not cover the mat but stood out and showed a unique feature The form (Ia) corresponds to the juvenile form (c) the form areal spreading sums up all growth forms that cover the mat and create a closed canopy We observed this for species from the groundcover variant We also used differing categorisations: (a) Plants spread out in all directions and rotted at “new” positions and developed long shoots which then hung low and covered large parts of the mat it was difficult to differentiate the plants in this category (c) Another observation was Lysimachia nummularia We classified plants that fall directly (a) but have no contact with the mat we divided plants that first grew upright and then fell We observed that some plants showed both growth form (a) and (b) The exceptions were that after the frost-intense winter of 2017–2018 Lysimachia nummularia ‘Aurea’ and Carex muskingumensis ‘Little Midge’ showed a lower growth height between April and June compared to 2017 and 2019 Iris foetidissima showed growth height the other way around The growth height of Iris foetidissima was higher in 2017 compared to 2019 due to a changing growth form from falling to more upright Iris foetidissima showed frost consequences much later after the 2017–2018 winter Polygonatum humile showed a decreasing growth height Most species showed a decreasing growth height or no growth towards winter This phenomenon was not observed for Asplenium scolopendrium and Pachysandra terminalis Carex dolichostachya ‘Silver Sceptre’ showed a delay in decreasing growth height Glechoma hederacea had a lower growth height in the winter months but recovered faster and had a relatively higher growth height in spring compared to other species Filipendula palmata ‘Rosa Schleier’showed a special growth height development The growth height varied strongly between the vegetation phases since Filipendula palmata ‘Rosa Schleier’ was vulnerable to mildew and had to be cut a few times Differences between the expositions were observed for the whole year for Pachysandra terminalis, which were higher in the north and east, and Polypodium vulgare, which had a higher growth height in the north (see Figures 9 – 14 in 01_Supplementary Material) we mostly documented a higher growth height in the north and east One exception we found was the vegetation phase from October to December in both experiment winters where only at the West Asplenium scolopendrium showed a lower growth height We also saw differences depending on the expositions in certain vegetation phases for the following: Hakonechloa macra ‘Aureola’ had higher growth height in the north between July and September; Waldsteinia ternata in the north from July to September; and Ajuga tenorii ‘Mauro’ and Hemerocallis x cultorum ‘Mini Stella ‘in the south between October and March In the final suitability , we calculated the mean, min, and max growth height of the individual species (Table 3) we decided to visualise the maximum growth height above 20 cm with two arrows and below 20 cm with one arrow We designed a practice-oriented plant plan for one vegetation mat The plant design as a group should be tested as closely to practice as possible we did not want to test single plants or a randomised arrangement of plants as this would not correspond to real plant design the individual plants were planted at different positions We compared the development of the plants at the different positions and observed similar trends For the parameter “overall impression” we kept deviations of the maximum rating value It must be mentioned that we did not place the individual plant species in all possible positions on the vegetation mat we cannot exclude the possibility that another position of the plant would have presented a different result The plant number was documented over the year too Alchemilla erythropoda did not grow and fell out shortly after planting Polygonatum humile and Bergenia ‘Baby Doll’ did not grow properly we recorded failures (one to two individuals) of Carex dolichostachya ‘Silver Sceptre’ We observed most plant losses after the winter (Figure 6 and see 4. in 02_Supplementary Data) The survival rates after winter 2017–2018 (2018) and after 2018–2019 (2019) were very different owing to the significantly colder temperatures in winter 2017–2018 We found only six species that 100% survived the winter of 2018 These were Filipendula palmata ‘Rosa Schleier’ Tradescantia x andersoniana ‘Purwell Giant’ and Tellima grandiflora ‘Rubra’ These species can be used in LWs without the risk of loss through frost we saw a 100% survival rate during the data collection it only seemed to have survived the winter and showed frost stress symptoms later (May to June 2018) and failed after all a 100% survival rate was observed for 14 species The other species showed a clearly (partly significant) higher survival rate compared to 2018 Only Hakonechloa macra ‘Aureola’ failed completely in the west Hakonechloa macra ‘Aureola’ had a high survival in the north and showed a significantly low survival rate in the east and west in 2019 and west in 2018 we calculated the suitability of the plants The winter of 2018 was frigid with a long frost period Plants in LWs have less root space and roots are exposed to extreme conditions even in mild winters we started from the worst case when calculating the winter survival suitability We recommend species that showed a winter survival rate above 80% without restrictions Species in which we observed a survival rate between 50% and 80% can be used in LWs but the conditions and the risk of losing these species to frost should be considered If a species survived the winter at a proportion less than 50% the high risk of failure and therefore high probability of replanting in the next spring must be remembered we studied the different parameters that indicate plant biomass and the leaf area of the individual plants The first impression of the root development determined where on the vegetation mat the root was found Plants with high biomass were Carex muskingumensis Heuchera Hybride ‘Purple Petticoats’ Tradescantia x andersoniana ‘Purwell Giant’ Tellima grandiflora ‘Rubra’ and Waldsteinia ternata Figure 8 Final biomass evaluation for smaller plants (A) and bigger plants (B) Determination at final evaluation in October 2019 Significant differences are shown with letters We found differences in biomass based on the exposition (see Figures 29 – 32 in 01_Supplementary Material) The biomass of Carex dolichostachya ‘Silver Sceptre’ and Ophiopogon japonicus ‘Sparkler’ in the north and Ajuga tenorii ‘Mauro’ and Asplenium scolopendrium in the south was low We observed higher biomass for Glechoma hederacea in the south We differentiated the entire above biomass into leaves and stems if the plant had both (see Figure 28 in 01_Supplementary Material) We found that stems and leaves mostly had the same proportion of biomass A higher leave biomass was found for Lysimachia nummularia ‘Aurea’ and Tellima grandiflora ‘Rubra’ Waldsteinia ternata was a special case because it had rhizomes as well We observed that there was less rhizome mass in the east compared to north and west For leaf area, we found the maximum values around 40,000 cm² for Ajuga tenorii ‘Mauro’ (east), Waldsteinia ternata (north and east) and Glechoma hederacea (south) (Figure 9) their mean was above 35,000 cm² much like Waldsteinia ternata (west) and Lysimachia nummularia ‘Aurea’ (south) We categorised these species under “high leaf area” seven plants were grouped into “medium leaf area” as they showed values between 5,000 and 20,000 cm² There were 35 plants that had a leaf area below 5,000 cm² (less leaf area) Cumulative leaf area of individual plants at different expositions One circle shows the individual leaf area of the plant species per repetition (Data from Carex dolichostachya “Silver Sceptre” for west and east were not documented) The leaf area also differed depending on exposition We found a higher leaf area in the east for Ajuga tenorii ‘Mauro’ we found less leaf area for Asplenium scolopendrium and a higher leaf area for Lysimachia nummularia ‘Aurea’ there was a higher leaf area for Hakonechloa macra ‘Aureola’ and Polypodium vulgare we saw higher leaf area values for Hemerocallis x cultorum ‘Mini Stella’ For the final determination of the “canopy” as a parameter for the plants’ suitability for LWs, we summed up the biomass and leaf area (Figures 8, 9 and see Table 8 in 01_Supplementary Material) we categorised the results and signed the data with symbols The canopy depends on the highest category of biomass or leaf area we categorised all species in comparison to each other in three canopy groups: high and the other tested species had a less canopy Since this parameter was only recorded once During the final evaluation, we also determined the root position and root biomass (Table 3, see Photo 1 - 3 in 01_Supplementary Material and 5.3 in 02_Supplementary Data) Since it was not possible to remove all root biomass from the mat We analysed the root position (Tables 1, 3) finding most roots in the non-woven layer on both sides (3N and 4N) except for Glechoma hederacea and Carex dolichostachya ‘Silver Sceptre’ (west and east) These species did not grow in the front part of the back polyester layer (5P) Less roots were found on the back side of the back polyester layer (6P) We documented 26 plants rooted in the front polyester layer on both sides (1P and 2P) Other plants were rooted either in the front of the front polyester layer 1P or the back of the front polyester layer 2P Carex dolichostachya ‘Silver Sceptre’ (west and east) Lysimachia nummularia ‘Aurea’ (south and east) Since our LW system is a special construction no general parameter for suitability can be derived from the root position For the additional parameters of the final evaluation see 5.4. in 02_Supplementary Data All of the parameters described above are included as results in the list of suitable plants for LWs (Tab.3) this list is available as an Excel sheet that can be sorted according to certain conditions (e.g light) (see additional data: 03_List of plants LW suitability) The list enables better planning because the desired parameters such as a high ornamental effect or a high probability of surviving the winter we hypothesised that we would find a higher variety of suitable plants for LWs We described plant development and made conclusions about the suitability of the tested species First, we wanted to know what the plants looked like during the different seasons. We used different perennials and assumed that it is possible to create attractive plant plans for LW because of the plants ornamental effects: sizes, texture, or colour (Suárez-Cáceres et al., 2022) and we saw differences in plant aesthetics between the experiment years plants grew slowly and there was no closed coverage especially in the cascade variant in the north and the gaps were filled with them or wild species we observed an unattractive plant picture for a limited period plants that survived winter died above ground and left only necromass behind it took at least a month before an attractive plant picture was created again This remains a problem for future LW projects in regions with frosty winters vertical greening is much more obvious and is therefore viewed much more critically There are different ways to deal with this problem One possibility is to use only plants that have high winter hardiness even these species can die above ground and look unattractive after winters with low temperatures Another option is intense maintenance management the necromass can be removed directly after the winter and the plant picture will appear more beautiful the plant image can be enhanced with geophytes a more attractive plant image can be created more quickly with higher maintenance Rather unusual approaches are conceivable as well LWs should look as nice as possible and be visually attractive LWs can be covered with something over the “after frost period” It is also imaginable to remove the LW over the winter period and replace it with another element A rather technically demanding approach is to equip the LW with a heating system Higher temperatures prevent plants from dying in winters irrigation management must also be considered in that case We observed that the plants had different growth forms in the LW during the experiment. There were species that showed similar and different growth forms, as is the case in horizontal planting as well. The plants in our system were planted vertically, which means they grew parallel to the normal ground (Suárez-Cáceres et al., 2022) This 90° rotation led to an adapted growth direction of some species Some of them grew straight and directly towards the sun; other species first grew facing the sun and then fell due to gravity We also observed that the plants changed their growth strategies over time Besides competition and spreading behaviour We observed that bigger plants hung over and thus covered plants below them smaller species grew poorly and were not visible we recommend putting smaller plants in the upper part of LWs to give them enough space temporary plants can be added to cover empty spaces until the intended plant establishes itself we chose the wrong position for Asplenium scolopendrium (south) Bergenia’ Baby Doll’ (south) Another limitation for plant growth is vulnerability to pests or pathogens We did not apply pest management because this would not be feasible in urban areas If we faced problems with pests and pathogens Pruning due to pests and pathogens should be considered in maintenance planning We observed differences due to the different light conditions of our experimental walls we documented a more attractive plant picture in the winter month there compared to the south we observed a better performance in the north compared to other expositions it is possible to design an attractive LW at a façade with low light intensity More flowers and a more colourful leaf ornamental effect were also detected in these expositions Regarding the winter survival rate (after 2017–2018) We observed the highest failure of Lysimachia nummularia ‘Aurea’ in the east This was not observed for all species in the east we found higher survival of Pachysandra terminalis and Asplenium scolopendrium in the east compared to the west which can be explained by the incredibly high radiation in the west for these species we recommend considering the light conditions the radiation and temperature are different and higher than the ground the common light information of the perennial should be considered and we provide a table of plants and the conditions needed for good development in a vertical system The next question is as follows: which methodology is best for describing the suitability of the plant a factor for plant LW suitability is winter hardiness as this depends on the extreme conditions underlying LW systems it is difficult to derive this information from common knowledge on perennials longer term research in various climate zones is needed The same must be mentioned for the climate zone where we conducted our research Our main aim was to test a large variety of plants The challenge of this research was the interdisciplinary approach especially the combination of a scientific experimental design with the demands of a practice-orientated concept and knowledge from horticulture this interdisciplinary approach resulted in success and produced a list of the tested plant species that can be used for future designs of LWs this list is not complete and is limited to our studied climate zone and the system we used There are many different constructed LW systems which resulted in various conditions for plants and make plant selection more complicated research on LW plants in different climate zones should be conducted with an interdisciplinary approach Consider what kind of goal the LW should achieve (e.g promoting biodiversity) to choose the optimal plant composition • Choose robust species (related to pests and winter hardiness); be prepared for higher failure because of frost and calculate the budget the construction type of the LW and light preference of the plants • Maintenance: intensity and frequency (e.g volume and development and using these solitary plants together with species that spread to fill the gaps Position of the individual plant in the plant plan and in the façade area (give small plants enough space and do not position bigger plants directly above them) • Vertical growth form and height of plants • Plants that have a nice ornamental effect even in winter and considering wild species in the planting concept • Unusual approaches to creating an attractive LW (overlap without plants or heating system) The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/Supplementary Material Further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author Both authors designed the experimental set up All authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version We acknowledge the support received from the Open Access Publishing Fund of Geisenheim University GFHG Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Hochschule Geisenheim e.V and the financier ZIM for the project “Begrünte Fassadenkacheln” (FKZ 4013810HF6) We would like to thank the student assistants and our colleagues from the Institute for Urban Horticulture and Plant Use for the setup We would like to express our gratitude specially for the excellent support The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher The Supplementary Material for this article can be found online at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fhort.2023.1091026/full#supplementary-material “Urbanes grün in der doppelten innenentwicklung: Abschlussbericht zum F+E-vorhaben,” in Entwicklung von naturschutzfachlichen zielen und orientierungswerten für die planerische umsetzung der doppelten innenentwicklung sowie als grundlage für ein entsprechendes flächenmanagement" (FKZ 3513 82 0500) (Bonn-Bad Godesberg: Bundesamt für Naturschutz) Brandhorst S., Zorn G., Steenis N. v., Mann G. (2015) Pflanzen wandgebunden arten 2015. FBB pflanzliste. Available at: http://www.gebaeudegruen.info/fileadmin/website/gruen/Fassadenbegruenung/basiswissen/Pflanzenliste_wandgeb_arten.pdf (Accessed October 25 Google Scholar What's ‘cool’in the world of green façades how plant choice influences the cooling properties of green walls The performance of outdoor plants in living walls under hot and humid conditions CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar THE CULTIVATION OF MEDITERRANEAN AROMATIC PLANTS ON GREEN WALLS CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Native plant establishment on a custom modular living wall system in a humid subtropical climate – vetrikales grün in nürnberg (Germany: Veichtshömer Berichte aus der Landespflege) Google Scholar Urban reconciliation ecology: the potential of living roofs and walls Physical and non-physical benefits of vertical greenery systems: A review CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Günther H. Potenziale von stauden in der vertikalbegrünung: Ergebnisse eines forschungsberichtes zu grüner infrastruktur (Germany: Stadt+Grün) Google Scholar Hansen R. (2016) Die stauden und ihre lebensbereiche. Available at: https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/kxp/detail.action?docID=6968113 Google Scholar Unkräuter in der dach- und fassadenbegrünung: Erfahrungsbericht aus der forschung in bingen und geisenheim (Germany: Stadt+Grün) Google Scholar Quantifying the thermal performance of green facades: A critical review soundscape and urban sustainability: an interdisciplinary Jørgensen L. Root growth of perennials in vertical growing media for use in green walls CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Jørgensen L. Spatial root distribution of plants growing in vertical media for use in living walls CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Jørgensen L. Against the wall–root growth and competition in four perennial winter hardy plant species grown in living walls Greenwall classification and critical design-management assessments CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar “Aktuelle forschungsergebnisse zur fassadenbegrünung: Vergleichende unterschung an verschiedenen FassadenbegrünungsSystemen: Ergebnisse aus dem ersten untersuchungsjahr zu lärmadsorption bewässerung und vegetationsentwicklung,” in FBB-symposium fassadenbegrünung 2012: Vortragsreihe zu themen der fassadenbegrünung (Germany: Fachvereinigung Bauwerksbegrünung e.V Köthner K. B. (2010). Fassadenbegrünungspflanzen für pflanzkörbe. Available at: http://www.gebaeudegruen.info/fileadmin/website/gruen/Fassadenbegruenung/basiswissen/PflanzenFassadengebundeneBegruenung.pdf (Accessed October 25 Google Scholar Ökosystemleistungen in der stadt: Gesundheit schützen und lebensqualität erhöhen : Kurzbericht für entscheidungträger (Leipzig: Naturkapital Deutschland: TEEB DE) Google Scholar “Water use and drought responses of eight native herbaceous perennials for living wall systems,” in Urban forestry & urban greening Sweden: Elsevier Urban Forestry & Urban Greening) CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Mit textilen begrünungslösungen senkrecht druchstarten: Kettengewirkte textile vegetationsträger für die fassadenbe (Germany: Kettenwirkpraxis) Google Scholar Green wall systems: A review of their characteristics CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Mårtensson L.-M. Exploring the use of edible and evergreen perennials in living wall systems in the Scandinavian climate CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Mårtensson L.-M. Plant performance in living wall systems in the Scandinavian climate CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Experimental investigation on the energy performance of living walls in a temperate climate Ottelé M. Quantifying the deposition of particulate matter on climber vegetation on living walls CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Vertical greenery systems (VGS) for energy saving in buildings: A review CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar The integration of vegetation in architecture CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar façade greening and living wall systems CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar a process tree for green façades and living walls CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Fassade und pflanze: Potenziale einer neuen fassadengestaltung (Germany: Technische Universität Darmstadt) Google Scholar begrünung und energie: Potenziale und wechselwirkungen Interdisziplinärer Leitfaden als Planungshilfe zur Nutzung energetischer klimatischer und gestalterischer Potenziale sowie zu den Wechselwirkungen von Gebäude Bauwerksbegrünung und Gebäudeumfeld Google Scholar Assessing water retention and correlation to climate conditions of five plant species in greywater treating green walls Radić M. Green facades and living walls–a review establishing the classification of construction types and mapping the benefits CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar The state of the art of living walls: Lessons learned CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Roth-Kleyer S. Machbarkeitsstudie vertikale gärten (Palmengarten Frankfurt/Main: Neue Landschaft) Google Scholar Green infrastructure: A landscape approach // green infrastructure: A landscape approach (Chicago: APA Planners Press) Google Scholar Meadow-living walls: Creating attractive vertical greenery with meadow seed mixtures – experiences and recommendations from a three year field trial Plants and polyester: suitable plants for a textile-based living wall system doi: 10.17660/ActaHortic.2022.1345.25 CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Begrünte fassadenkacheln - pflanzen für die wandbegrünung: Eignung von stauden in textilen vegetationsträgern Google Scholar Suárez-Cáceres G Establishment and development of ornamental grasses on green roofs and living walls Exploring the integration between colour theory and biodiversity values in the design of living walls Promoting ecosystem and human health in urban areas using green infrastructure: A literature review Konzept und realisierung einer vertikalen begrünungsmethode mit dem ziel der feinstaubsorption im urbanen raum Google Scholar Thermal evaluation of vertical greenery systems for building walls CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Citation: Stollberg M and von Birgelen A (2023) Vertical plants: Plant design of Living walls – evaluation of 34 perennials in a textile based Living wall over a three years experiment Received: 06 November 2022; Accepted: 24 February 2023;Published: 30 March 2023 Copyright © 2023 Stollberg and von Birgelen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited in accordance with accepted academic practice distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms *Correspondence: Maren Stollberg, TWFyZW4uU3RvbGxiZXJnQGhzLWdtLmRl Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher 94% of researchers rate our articles as excellent or goodLearn more about the work of our research integrity team to safeguard the quality of each article we publish Some parts of this site work best with JavaScript enabled Weingut Koegler is a charming winery with a lovely restaurant surrounded by ancient homes. I highly recommend a tasting of some of their fabulous wines, including a beautiful Pinot Noir that has spent some time in oak. The next morning, we visited the Geisenheim University or the German Wine Institute. This is where the real action began, with a talk on German wines and a powerful session on the German Pinot Noir. Unfortunately for Germany, most of the world only looks at it for the Riesling. And while the country certainly masters that variety of grape, there is so much more to discover. For the best views in Wiesbaden, get yourself up to the top of the Niederwald Park and enjoy a majestic view of the Rhine, and the bordering wine regions of Rheinghau and Rhiehessen. Take the trail back down to town, where wineries and residential homes sit side-by-side, and walk into any of the tasting rooms. The ticket price is hefty, but don't skip the Ball de Weines in Wiesbaden. It's one helluva party, which showcases top German producers, who are part of the VDP association. Great conversations and wine flow freely. I spent my time drinking spirit made from Riesling and smoking some fine Davidoff cigars between bites of an indulgent Black Truffle Risotto. The next morning, we headed to a wine fair showcasing over a 1,000 VDP wines produced in Germany and then to a town called Würzburg in Franken, about two hours away. This tiny university town has a charming bridge where everyone congregates in the evenings to sip wine. Do also visit Juliusspital, a winery in the heart of Mainz, walking distance from the bridge. I was awed by this place, partly because the revenue from the sale of their wines funds the hospital they run in the same complex! This is a state-of-the-art winery with a jaw-dropping cellar. I'd happily go back to Mainz only to visit this place again. The bunch of us stayed on the outskirts of Mainz in a hotel called Meintzinger, very close to the vineyards. I have always loved the German countryside and staying in a place like this was truly a pleasure. Large luxurious rooms in a building built in quintessential European style. Our journey ended with a tasting at Weingut Stein. I highly recommend this winery for its wines, the view of Mainz and of course, for its Michelin-starred restaurant Ludwig Knoll. The food was impeccable and the service, exactly what you would expect. Rheinghau and the regions I visited are breathtakingly beautiful and Germany, like always, left me satiated. The vineyard slopes in this country are the steepest in the world. When seen up close, you can't help but wonder how they manage to tend to their vines without breaking their backs. As one wine producer told us, there is a lot of pain in their way of winemaking. But when the wine is in the glass and then on your tongue, the pain seems worthwhile. Nikhil Agarwal is a Sommelier and Director at All Things Nice  Use of this website constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Service (updated April 1 2021) and Policy and Cookie Statement (updated April 1 The material on this site may not be reproduced except with the prior written permission of Condé Nast Receive future newsletters from College of Journalism & Mass Communications longtime winemaker at Australia's Mount Langi Ghiran winery and a legend in the Victorian wine industry following a five-year battle with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease Mast established Mount Langi Ghiran as a benchmark of cool-climate Australian Shiraz over 20 years granitic site in the shadow of the mountain of the same name in Victoria’s Grampians region The wine is widely recognized as one of Australia’s most distinctive single-vineyard wines After studying winemaking at the Geisenheim Grape Breeding Institute in Germany in the early 1970s Mast gained winemaking experience in Germany Hungary and South Africa before settling in the Grampians first as assistant winemaker at Seppelts Great Western in 1975 then at Bests Great Western from 1976 until 1987 It was while working at Seppelts that he first encountered the distinctive black pepper character of Shiraz grown by the Frantin brothers at Mount Langi Ghiran He was captivated by the wine and arranged to meet the brothers He was appointed consultant winemaker in 1978 and purchased the property in 1987 In the mid-1990s he launched the successful Four Sisters brand Mast was a visionary decades before “cool climate” became a buzzword in Australian wine which he called his “fifth child.” He pursued a new stylistic direction for Australian wine pepper-infused character and fine-boned structure he worked in a very basic tin shed with barrels that smelled of garlic—the previous owners had hung homemade salamis there Mount Langi Ghiran Shiraz had been featured on the cover of Wine Spectator alongside Penfolds Grange and Henschke Hill of Grace The reputation of Grampians Shiraz in the wine world today owes much to his dedication With his trademark tangle of curly hair and gregarious Mast was popular in Australian wine circles and is fondly remembered for his generous spirit Mount Langi Ghiran remains under the ownership of the Rathbone Group, which purchased the estate in 2002. The Rathbone family recently announced that its wine assets are being offered for sale, including Yering Station in the Yarra Valley, Xanadu in Margaret River and Parker Coonawarra Estate. Mast remained at Mount Langi Ghiran until his diagnosis with Alzheimer's in 2006. He is survived by his wife, Sandra, four daughters and six grandchildren. The former Los Angeles restaurateur and real estate developer followed his heart when … Modern Mississauga is about exploring Mississauga through the lens of the 21st century We cover everything from a uniquely Canadian perspective - culture and community - and aim to represent the diverse blend of interests and experiences of Canada's sixth-largest city Click here for the directory of Mississauga businesses open during COVID-19 While wine touring in Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley this summer I watched as a visitor burst into a tasting room exclaiming We’re having such a good time!” I glanced across the counter with my eyebrows raised “It happens all the time,” she said.  If you’re looking for a place to start, check out the provincial signature. Tidal Bay is Nova Scotia’s appellation wine, its answer to Champagne or Bordeaux It’s a blend that’s unique to Nova Scotia and designed to showcase its best to the world.  there’s a long list of attributes a wine needs to meet There are more than 20 varietals that qualify for use in a Tidal Bay wine but the first 51% must be one or more of l’Acadie Blanc These four varietals are hardy hybrids that are characteristic of the region and well-suited to Nova Scotia’s challenging winter conditions Having an extensive list to select from gives each winery a palette for creativity and individual expression though a Tidal Bay wine should have a flavour profile of “lively fresh green fruit and characteristic minerality,” according to the appellation guidelines and it needs to be relatively light: it can’t exceed 11% in alcohol content All the grapes used must be grown in Nova Scotia any wine wearing a Tidal Bay label needs to pair well with seafood Each vintage is judged for suitability by a blind tasting panel 14 wineries have submitted successful entries each purchased directly from the wineries during this summer’s visits.  If you can’t get to Nova Scotia yourself anytime soon there’s one bottle you might be able to hunt down at the LCBO and all these wines can be shipped by the wineries across the country via Canada Post Note that shipping costs are not included below Some wineries won’t ship during the winter months due to a risk the bottles will freeze so get your orders in before the snow flies if you do get to visit the Annapolis Valley Brennan can curate a half or full-day tour tailored to your interests and he’ll do the driving in his classic 1947 Ford Super Deluxe He mapped out a perfect afternoon for me and my young daughter complete with non-alcoholic tastings for her at each winery and dinner on a patio overlooking a tidal river Learn more about Brennan’s tour packages at vintagevinotours.ca.  Benjamin Bridge 2022 Tidal Bay $23.95 for 750 mL at the LCBO; $19.85 direct from benjaminbridge.com This one of the rare Tidal Bay wines you’ll occasionally find at the LCBO Produced by one of the top wineries in the Gaspereau Valley adjacent to the Annapolis Valley It pours with a crisp pale yellow colour and aromas of pithy lemon peel With plenty of zingy lemon on the palate accented by a hint of melon plus a slight pinch of sea salt from its local wild fermentation this Tidal Bay is refreshing and only slightly off-dry Benjamin Bridge’s Tidal Bay would stand up well to heavier seafood dishes or a creamy chowder with crusty bread that will let you extend its season well into the cooler months Domaine de Grand Pré 2022 Tidal Bay $20.26 for 750 mL, direct from grandprewines.com Domaine de Grand Pré is named for the Landscape of Grand Pré UNESCO World Heritage Site that’s immediately adjacent to its vineyards Take a leisurely stroll through the vineyards to a scenic lookout over this historic farmland reclaimed from the sea floor centuries ago by the Acadians you’ll find Domaine de Grand Pré’s Tidal Bay to be a blend of l'Acadie Blanc It starts with inviting aromas of peach and sweet blossoms Layers of citrus and peach on the palate give way to a long and pleasantly tart grapefruit finish Try it a plate of Nova Scotia’s famously rich steamed lobster with drawn butter Mercator Vineyards 2021 Tidal Bay $24.79 for 750 mL, direct from mercatorwine.ca and each winery in the family is permitted to produce to its own signature style which comes across elegantly in this Tidal Bay winner of the 2022 Lieutenant Governor’s Award It’s a slightly deeper yellow in the glass than the rest of these offerings while the nose offers lemon and apple with a hint of richness This follows through with flavours of creamy lemon curd alongside bright apple and lightly floral notes It’s beautifully smooth and easy drinking with low acidity A milder dish will let this wine’s unique flavours shine Consider pairing it with cod cakes and a green salad L’Acadie Vineyards 2022 Tidal Bay $21.57 for 750 mL, direct from lacadievineyards.ca  2025 Hyundai Elantra Hybrid - Value Leader a much beloved and passionate advocate of the preservation and our stories The new and improved Marina Park in Port Credit has gone from bland to grand and reopens on May 3rd Welcome to the May 2025 Mississauga Music Notes; get ready for a marvellous month of music I’ll share some lesser-known attractions that are certainly worth visiting as you road trip in Eastern Newfoundland & Labrador Deep Cleaning: Creating a Commercial Cleaning Schedule That Works Learn about Mississauga’s Newton’s Grove School and their philosophy of “Classrooms that Think.” Voters in Mississauga can use the code 'WECANVOTE' to access two free 30-minute rides to help them get to and from their polling location Subscribe To Our NewsletterAboutContact UsMedia KitTestimonials © 2025 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED MODERN MISSISSAUGA MEDIA LTD Synthetic cork manufacturer Nomacorc is planning to start a major research programme in China which will be a joint operation with a Chinese academic institution will be on the same lines as the programmes Nomacorc already runs with University of California Davis the Wine Australian Research Institute and other bodies The research will aim to understand how oxygen affects the development of wine in the bottle global vice president of marketing and innovation told Decanter.com It will be geared towards the Chinese wine market and specific to wines produced in China ‘There will be a regional component and it will be varietal specific and it will involve an academic partner of the calibre of the AWRI.’ Nomacorc already has a strategic partnership with Cofco the Chinese government-run foodstuffs company which owns China’s biggest wine producer Great Wall – as well as Chateau de Viaud in Bordeaux and Biscottes winery in Chile Nomacorc helps Cofco with winery and bottling operations These are manufactured at Nomacorc’s plant in Yantai on the Shandong peninsula the heart of the Chinese wine producing region ‘We supply China with a series of products that represents our global range,’ Thompson said ‘We don’t customise the products for China.’ As climate change pushes viticulture further and further towards the poles a similar shift is happening to the type of wine consumer and the types of wines they are consuming a similar shift is happening to the type of wine consumer - and the types of wines they are consuming At various emerging cool climate seminars at last week's ICCWS experts presented on how the warming world is continuing to open up the possibility of new viticulture regions and how these in turn can open up new opportunities for the trade - in particular to millennials who are lapping up emerging regions with gusto the speed at which climate change is occurring and the impact that this is having on the frontiers of viticulture was illustrated by Professor Hans Schultz of Geisenheim He said: "[There has been a] +1 degree temperature change from 1950 to the present meaning new areas now have average temperatures of 13 to 15 degrees during the April to October growing season (in the northern hemisphere) with these new areas clearly moving to the north and opening up coastal zones even further north." it was revealed that the mean temperature in Oxford is now as consistently high as Geisenheim was during the 1980s and Gothenburg in turn is as warm as Oxford was in the 1980s Cool climate California near the Sonoma Coast is that the warming world is continuing to open up an approach to consumption defined by the consumer themselves with millennials the globe over wanting choices that reflect their own sense of independence and discovery Richard Halstead, chief operating officer of global research company Wine Intelligence under-35 consumers consume quite differently to an older wine-drinking generation "devotion" and "custom" all pointing to a desire for fascination and discovery Steve Charters MW from Burgundy Business School questioned whether this sense of discovery will only lead to affinities for regions which are transient and encourage fads rather than form lasting connections "Our wine drinking culture has grown up over a long period but China has emerged in the past 15 years," he said "It's completely new and one of things that happens with rapidly emerging markets is that you tend to get trends rather than loyalty - and I'd question whether devotion leads to long-term devotion "I'm still drinking the same wine from France as I was 30 years ago He added: "Millennials drink socially in small groups We need to listen more to what they want rather than try and proscribe For the full report on the ICCWS and the impact climate change is having on winemaking across the globe, click here AWL announces creation of new global win... WSTA executive board gains three new mem... Christopher Delalonde joins Perfect Cell... Diageo GB announces new marketing and in... Viña Pomal launches first sparkling Rioj... Bodegas Baigorri partners with Top Selec... You can now view the latest Harpers supplement with our digital edition... View the Top 100 2024 competition results here.. Vergelegen – continuity and change on the Schapenberg Talking innovation and opening doors with LWC Koshu brings flavour of Japan to London Reh Kendermann: Sales Manager UK There are numerous institutions that provide higher education on viticulture and winemaking but very few are first-class wine producers per se Prior to the destruction wreaked by the two World Wars it was German-speaking Europe rather than the great U.S that produced the most Nobel laureates in Chemistry Signs of Germanic scientific dominance can still be seen in today’s vinous world with Austria and Germany sharing between themselves three of the oldest research centres dedicated to viticulture and winemaking in Klosterneuburg Established in 1868 as Königliche Weinbauschule (Royal Institute of Viticulture) Staatliche Lehr- und Versuchsanstalt für Wein- und Obstbau Weinsberg (State Education and Research Institute for Viticulture and Pomology Weinsberg; abbreviated as LVWO) is the oldest of its kind in Germany indeed predating the foundation of the country Its winemaking body is Staatsweingut Weinsberg a 40ha estate whose vinous portfolio is akin to proportional representation in parliament with Riesling representing merely 20% of total hectarage while possessing three Große Lage vineyards in Burg Wildeck Gundelsheimer Himmelreich and Weinsberger Schemelsberg The Chinese mind may find it difficult to imagine that government ownership and technological progress can be mentioned in one breath but this is the birthplace of such world-renowned crossings as Acolon Dornfelder (in honour of Immanuel Dornfeld the Anglo-Saxon mind may refuse to believe that rather than disrupting the omniscient market state bureaucracy actually does not harm to an entity’s initiative and ingenuity as Staatsweingut Weinsberg stays a member of Verband Deutscher Prädikats- und Qualitätsweingüter (VDP) A visit to this world-class research centre is a sui generis experience Rows after rows of clones and patches after patches of seedings are meticulously aligned in greenhouses and laboratories each given a thoroughly systematic name comprising seemingly random letters and numerals born WE70-281-35 and WE 70-77-4F respectively Cabernet Cubin and Mitos are both crossings of Cabernet Sauvignon and Lemberger There is not so much room for impressionism as austerity and exactness each successful clone is the result of literally hundreds if not thousands of attempts and that it is virtually unthinkable that a scientist would witness the complete cycle of a new variety within one’s lifetime since it may take up to a century for fruits to bear In addition to continually analysing and improving existing varieties scientists at LVWO are constantly creating new varieties essential to ensure viticultural security in an increasingly homogenised world The Irish Potato Famine from 1845 to 1849 and the Phylloxera Plague from the 1860s to 1890s are stark warnings against putting all the eggs in one baskets even if the baskets are Riesling and Pinot Noir… Staatsweingut Weinsberg Fumé Blanc H.A.D.E.S Sourced from old vines grown on Keuper marl fermented and matured on lees in barriques Saturated citrine with radiant golden reflex the assertive entry continues through a sumptuous mid-palate Staatsweingut Weinsberg Gundelsheimer Himmelreich Spätburgunder 2014 VDP GG Sourced from old vines planted in 1959 on steep slopes dominated by Muschelkalk the adorable entry evolves into a melodious mid-palate Comfortably rivals a grand cru from Côte-de-Nuits Staatsweingut Weinsberg Traum 2011 sourced from old vines grown on Gipskeuper and Keuper marl the fruit-laden entry persists through a well-built mid-palate This Cabernet quartet is as innovative as it is inimitable Cheong is a legal professional by day and columnist by night Having spent his formative years in Britain You must be logged in to post a comment services and collaboration opportunities for researchers In his doctoral study Subin Kalu found that biochar addition to soil can reduce nitrogen leaching from agricultural soils to waterways and reduce the emissions of N2O a potent greenhouse gas.  The high specific surface area and porous structure of biochar can improve retention of soil water and nutrients in the soil chemical and biological properties of soils that could eventually reduce greenhouse gas emissions and nutrient leaching Whether these beneficial effects after a single application of biochar persist for the long-term “It is also essential to find out the long-term effects of biochar before its widespread application to soils to detect if biochar would have any detrimental effects because it is not possible to remove it once it has been applied to the soil,” says Kalu Kalu studied the long-term effects of biochars in four different agricultural field experiments in southern Finland where biochars had been applied two to eight years ago “Although the effects of biochars were not consistent throughout these years some improvements in plant growth were observed when the previous growing seasons were planted with legumes This special biochar and pre-crop effect warrants further study” biochars showed tendencies to improve agricultural benefits such as increases in crop yield soil nitrate retention and plant nitrogen uptake while reducing the negative environmental effects such as decreases in soil N2O emissions and nitrate leaching” Even if the observed positive agricultural and environmental effects were not consistent in all fields in the long-term researchers detected no negative effects of biochar over the study periods This indicates that the application of biochar in agricultural soils is a safe way of enhancing soil carbon storage Subin Kalu did his PhD at the Faculty of Agricultural and Forest Sciences in a joint collaboration between researchers from the Department of Forest Sciences and Agricultural Sciences as well as with researchers from Natural Resources Institute Finland (LUKE) and the Finnish Meteorological Institute Dissertation in electronic form Agrichar group’s web-page a highly stable porous carbonaceous material produced by the pyrolysis of organic substances has been gaining a lot of attention because of its potential to sequester atmospheric carbon as well as to provide agricultural and other environmental benefits after its application to soil Biochar can persist in soil for several hundred to thousands of years which proves its capability in increasing the long-term carbon storage in soil Dorina Lindemann pictured during her visit to Macau Quinta da Plansel cellar was created in 1997 by Dorina Lindemann Graduated as a winemaker from the University of Geisenheim Lindemann became interested in Portugal through the influence of her father Quinta da Plansel produces only Portuguese wine varieties the 75-hectare winery is expected to produce 500,000 liters Interviewed by the Times during a promotional visit to Macau Lindemann praises the Portuguese wine varieties and explains that the company’s focus is on quality Macau Daily Times (MDT) – You studied viticulture in Germany and later you established yourself in Portugal Dorina Lindemann (DL) – When my daddy was 18 years old he had the fantastic idea to buy a boat together with three students and to travel around the world I think my father stayed there for two or three months– it was impossible to go out because they lost their passports which changed his mentality and he didn’t want to go back home The idea stayed in his head: ‘One day I’m going to live in Portugal’ I think he passed that to me: the passion for Portugal I got two children and a brother – and when he reached 40 [years of age] he sold everything in Germany and decided to follow his heart and go back to Portugal Dorina Lindemann (center) with her daughters MDT – Your family was already involved in the wine business back in Germany He [Hans-Jörg Böhn] tried to always import Portuguese wines with too much acidity or just color and no fruitiness It was impossible to import Portuguese wines I have to make something else for Portugal.’ Before he went there he studied [winemaking] for four semesters at the University of Geisenheim He bought a piece of land 100 kilometers east of Lisbon in a beautiful old town named Montemor-o-Novo Around 40 years ago there was nothing there He began a fantastic project with the University of Geisenheim in order to find out how many native varieties exist in Portugal It was my father who discovered that the most hidden varieties were still in the dark together with a professor from the University of Évora who marked the plants to observe them over [many] years and discovered that Portugal has got more than 380 native varieties he selected 150 and brought them to Alentejo We made microvinification from each of these varieties for over 10 years I always came and visited him during summer and I loved his work I loved the grapes and loved the vineyards Everybody was always: ‘You are a winemaker there are no female winemakers.’ It was in the hand of men at that time MDT – You mentioned that Quinta da Plansel was set up as a “women power” company DL – I finished university and only after that I went back to Portugal in 1993 My father already had his company established and a nursery where he produced wine plants for those I worked a bit in the nursery and I started to make my own wines at the University of Évora They had some vessels and they gave them to me and I could work there and start to get my first experiences we started to make the first wine in Quinta da Plansel and we started to build up the winery I built up new stuff or bought more vessels my husband sent two men to work with me but it was impossible… macho men in the Alentejo At that time it was usual for women to be having a coffee or be at a bar women were eating in the kitchen and the men in the living room At that time I decided not to work with men anymore I had experience working with some women in the field She and another one started to work with me in the winery MDT – How large was the staff when you began DL – We were a staff of only three persons in the beginning [producing] 20,000 liters and we did everything by ourselves He was very young but very nice and [a] kind man Most of the people [in the company] are women I still have 20 women working in the field MDT – Is your wine made only with Portuguese wine grape varieties I’m just working with Portuguese wine varieties The most important brand we have is Plansel The name comes from ‘planta seleccionada’ [selected plant] so I’m only using the plants we have selected MDT – What is it that’s so special about these Portuguese wine varieties but [with] most of them you have to plant them together to make a good wine But we [Portugal] have some special variety I believe it could be like a pilot variety for the whole world The number one [variety] at the moment is Touriga Nacional because it is adaptable to all regions worldwide There’s only one other variety that can adapt as well which is well known all over the world because you plant it in Africa and in America and it always makes good wine Touriga Nacional always makes [a] very interesting and different kind of red wine adding on to the fruitiness and the berries acidity and alcohol always is in a perfect performance [arrangement] you can easily make a monovariety with Touriga Nacional I have other two varieties I really love: Touriga Franca and Tinta Barroca Touriga Franca gives a lot of color and tannins and dark fruit These are the three main varieties I’m focusing on MDT – You mentioned that around 50 years ago the Portuguese wine was not good There was a massive development and it is now becoming famous internationally There was no sophistication in the wine production before DL – There was no section in the vineyards They had sometimes 20 different varieties in one vineyard and they were harvested at the same time You cannot harvest different varieties at the same time Each variety has a maturation [that becomes] ready in a different time They had no control at [over the] vineyards with young people coming [to the industry] You look first to the field and to the vineyards and then you look at the winery lot of the vineyards have been taken over and replant[ed] with new vineyards and new varieties I just feel sorry for the Lisbon and Tejo region because many immigrant varieties are coming in They are planting the international varieties because they think it is better in marketing and sales We should focus more on the native varieties There are varieties that are just good for the north of Portugal but we have varieties that can work all over Portugal and make really great and special wines MDT – Do you think the Portuguese wines will get more varied and internationally recognized We can’t forget that in Portugal Aragonês is a dominant variety Those varieties have 50 more synonyms and are planted all over the world So Tempranillo and Aragonês is the most planted variety all over the world the first variety at the moment is Aragonês second is Touriga Franca and third is Touriga Nacional MDT – Two thirds of Quinta da Plansel wine production is exported I’m native German and I think I’m a little bit the ambassador for Portugal in Europe wine tasting and I’m also teaching in the University of Geisenheim I’m really trying to bring the Portuguese varieties to Germany and Switzerland Nowadays I’m selling about 150,000 wine bottles just to small wine shops and retailers The second market for me is Switzerland and I’m everywhere a little bit in Europe I think we work quite well in Hong Kong and Macau and I have a very good partner in Taiwan I’m working quite well with Canada and Brazil but I’m not focusing there because all the Portuguese people are focusing in Angola and the competition is so high at the moment… The price is dropping down and that is not where I want to go I try to focus on high quality level wine and I want to show the people the passion of our company I see that my daughters want to come into the company too so I think it is very important to stay as a family and do something special To show the people that we have something special – the monovarieties –and we focus on the native Portuguese varieties MDT – The property also hosts an eco-tourism project especially the European people are increasingly coming to Spain and Portugal because of the crisis we had 17 million touristic visitors in Portugal People are not just coming to enjoy the seaside they are really interested about culture and wines and olive oil. The sales from wining estates in Portugal have been increasing extremely in the last two years People come there [to wineries] to buy and also take wine home We made the decision two years ago to build up a new tasting room We created space for people to taste the wines in nearby a garden and next to the swimming pool because there are a lot of people passing by and buying wine There are many international visitors such as a lot of people from Canada which is very important: people have to find you but I want people to see a little more of what we are doing MDT – In Macau there is a large offering of Portuguese wines many of which are available in supermarkets Do you see Macau as a platform for Portuguese wines This is an old Portuguese colony and if you look at Portugal’s economy and the building up of wineries… It’s crazy what happened I think it was okay for Portugal to come to the European Union in 1986 but the European Union did a lot of mistakes They sent enormous amounts of money to Portugal and it wasn’t really controlled A lot of people from the banks were very clever because they could fill out all these documents to get subsidies you find that many wineries were built up in the last 10 years just with subsidies They had no time to build up a brand or create a marketing strategy They just got the money from the European Union and they built up enormous wineries What are they going to do with such amount of wine [they produce] overloading everything and losing a little bit [of] the standard it was normal that you had very expensive and high quality wines here in Macau Nowadays people go to the supermarket and they have MOP30 wines… So I think my competitors are all losing money It is not possible to produce a bottle of wine and sell it for EUR1.50 – that’s what most people are doing At that price you don’t pay for the bottle It is really ridiculous what’s going on at the moment MDT– Do you think these big producers may swallow the small ones DL – What I’m a little bit frightened [of] is that the big ones are absorbing the medium and small ones So I think the future in winemaking will be very big companies which holds 70 percent of the Port Wine market is buying a lot of wine in the Alentejo and Lisbon areas We are talking about 400 million bottles of wine The smaller brands have to build up a personality and make something special Like [us,] we focus on the family and we try to put our family into the label so that the people see the family relation you try to introduce new types of grapes and mixes and that is why we have this family estate we do a special blend and we name it with my name Probably we are going to have a new red special wine named after Luísa [one of Lindemann’s daughters] using Alicante Bouschet together with Touriga Franca Probably this will be the news for next year But that wine looks great and I believe we will do something very interesting there MDT – How does this Macau partnership with Adega Royale work DL – I think Haigan [director of Adega Royale] tries more to work with the good restaurants Because if you put the wines in wine shops Especially in Hong Kong I see that if the wine is in the shop Food and  wine distributor Adega Royale is distributing Quinta da Plansel in Macau The company’s director Haigan Wong told the Times that Dorina Lindemann’s high quality wine is distributed in the region for restaurants “Everyone is very enthusiastic about the wine because it is a single variety and it is more special you can taste the region and the hard work that she [Lindemann] has put into it We can feel the heart and soul that you sometimes lose on a wine You can feel what is the aim of the wine,” he said Wong says that the market is challenging:  “At the end of the day it’s hit and miss Sometimes it goes very well and then something changes.” Brewers and maltsters ensure that each of the 5.000 types of beer brewed in Germany has its own character They not only bring together the traditional ingredients but also determine the individual recipe and monitor the brewing process chemical and biological processes play an important role in beer production "Alcohol and carbon dioxide are only created through fermentation processes of the added yeast in which storage time and temperature are crucial," explains Peter Peschmann Brewers and maltsters are therefore largely responsible for ensuring the quality of the brewery’s individual brands trainees go through all the steps of beer production in three years and learn how to handle and use raw materials auxiliary materials and operating supplies cooling and clarification of wort are just some of the tasks storing and maturing beer is just as important as filtering and bottling the barley juice we have been offering a combination of training as a brewer and maltster with a four-year dual bachelor's degree in beverage technology," says Peschmann More information is available at veltins.de After 15 months of practical training in the brewery the course begins at the university in Geisenheim the trainees return to Grevenstein for further practical training steps While today modern technology makes work in the brewery easier and the beer is bottled in plastic or stainless steel barrels the work of a cooper was a real “backbreaking job” cleaning and repair of the wooden barrels that were common at the time The so-called pitching was particularly dangerous In order to close the pores and joints of the wood and prevent the carbon dioxide from escaping but also to avoid a change in taste inside the barrel due to the contact between beer and wood coopers had to line the wooden barrels with liquid and extremely hot pitch Shots Magazine / © Photos: ArturVerkhovetskiy By Jan-Christopher Sierks AIVily – a Sierks Media Initiative AI systems such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude and Gemini are increasingly influencing the way [Read more...] Backlinks have become a central component of digital marketing and SEO strategies. Companies and freelancers are increasingly taking advantage of the opportunity to [Read more...] In short: When it comes to dance shoes, not only quality and comfort should be the top priority, but also the ordering process is an important [Read more...] Are you looking for an effective way to place your company or product online? Advertorials are one of the best methods [Read more...] On TikTok and other social media platforms, young men stage themselves with artistic tricks and present their knife collections. In real life, too, [Read more...] Press parking signs play a crucial role in the world of journalism and reporting. They serve not only as simple traffic signs, [Read more...] Music is a universal means of communication that connects people across cultures, languages, and borders. An essential component of music is [Read more...] In the new Sat.1 and Joyn series "A Farm to Fall in Love with," everything revolves around apples. And love. And [Read more...] Sean Combs, known worldwide as P. Diddy, Diddy or Puff Daddy, was long considered one of the most influential figures in international [Read more...] Celebrities are constantly looking for new ways to interact with their audience and strengthen their brand. A medium that [Read more...] Small but mine: Even on tight plots of land, as is common today on the outskirts of cities and in new housing developments, [Read more...] A road trip by car is an exciting way to discover new places, experience adventures and create unforgettable memories. [Read more...]