Germany’s Ahr region suffers extreme floods

Terrifying floods damage Germany's wine producers in the far North West region of Ahr. Flooded cellars, and fast-moving waters carried off barrels and even presses up to 15km downstream, taking out electricity and water supplies.

Speaking to Decanter on Tuesday, Marc Adeneuer, of JJ Adeneuer winery in Ahrweiler said ‘It’s a disaster, there are no bridges over the Ahr river, the streets have been destroyed.’

The Ahr region is one of Germany's smaller regions located North West of the Mosel at a similar latitude to the Isle of Wight, UK. Unusually for such a cool region, it primarily produces red wines and is the most Northern wine region specialising in red grapes. Most vineyards are located on terraced slopes facing southwest to southeast along the middle and lower portions of river Ahr.