The German wine industry is to expand as far north as Sylt, an island just 10 miles west of Denmark.
According to the German Wine Institute, the new 10 ha (hectare) wine area has been created in the Schleswig-Holstein region, on Sylt an island better known for its luxurious tourist resorts.
It becomes Germany’s northernmost wine area.
‘Until now vineyards in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern along the Elbe River [north-east Germany] counted as Germany’s northernmost vineyards,’ said a statement from the German Wine Institute (GWI).
According to GWI spokesman Frank Schultz, the vineyards on Sylt will mostly consist of the Müller-Thurgau variety.
The grapes will go into the local Schleswig-Holstein Landwein, an appellation similar to the French Vin de Pays. The first bottles will be released between 2011 and 2012.
‘You cannot compare the quality of these vineyards [to the 13 official quality wine growing regions in Germany],’ Schultz told decanter.com.
‘It has less to do with global warming than with marketing – it is not a coincidence that authorisation to make wine was given to Sylt, [it] adds prestige to the island’s reputation,’ he said.
Written by Panos Kakaviatos
