Blood, sweat and tears

A vigneron's story is sometimes one of blood, sweat and tears. Obviously, to be a winemaker some knowledge of wine is a prerequisite. Yet, you also need to work tractors and other essential equipment, be prepared to get your elbows dirty, boast some scientific knowledge, be a dab hand at marketing, be able to keep the books in order etc. And good-quality wine wouldn't go amiss either, thank you very much. In short, winemaking is a line of work that not only requires wide-ranging specialist expertise but also spades of enthusiasm, patience and resilience.

Weingut Emrich-Schönleber from the Nahe recently took this one step further by purchasing an old parcel of land situated in their Grosses Gewächs Halenberg site that had become overrun with hedges during the previous 30 years. Over a two-year period beginning in 2006, they cleared the overgrowth, prepared the soil, planted and nurtured new vines before finally harvesting their first crop in the 2008. Here is the illustrated story (in German) of their project.