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Steep slopes: high time for action - District Administrator Allgaier wants to preserve cultural landscapes

"This is about nothing other than the preservation of a thousand-year-old cultural landscape. If future generations ask us why we didn't do everything we could to save the terraced vineyards as an incomparable local, cultural and natural heritage, it will be too late. Now is the time to act - the window of opportunity is getting smaller every day," says District Administrator Dietmar Allgaier on the situation of the vineyard slopes threatened by abandonment, scrub encroachment and decay. In the meantime, everything has been said, researched, discussed and scientifically described, now all those who can and want to do something must show their colors. Allgaier is thus calling for a sprint phase after a marathon discussion on terraced viticulture that has already lasted far too long, but is important.

A panoramic view of lush green vineyards on a slope, with neatly organized rows of grapevines. A winding path can be seen through the vineyard, leading towards the horizon under a clear blue sky. The scene conveys a serene and fertile landscape ideal for grape cultivation.

Rapid implementation of the strategy required

The results of the Steile Weine project were recently presented to the public. District Administrator Allgaier is very pleased with them, but is now urging the rapid implementation of the strategy developed by the key players over several years. "I consider the solution presented for preserving the cultural landscape through high-quality wines to be very convincing," says the district administrator, praising those involved, but now sees it as primarily up to the boards of the winegrowers' cooperatives. "It is my firm conviction that all implementation measures, including further state or municipal measures to preserve the terraced steep slopes, must now build on the results of the Steile Weine project."

Project has its origins in the Steep Slope Congress in Besigheim

This goes back to the Steep Slope Congress in Besigheim in 2015. As a result, the mayors of the wine villages along the Neckar between Benningen and Lauffen launched the ILEK (integrated rural development project) Neckarschleifen. Working groups spent months developing concepts. As a result, the Steile Weine project was launched. This project was largely driven by the cooperatives, in particular the Felsengartenkellerei and Lauffener Weingärtner, in collaboration with the LVWO Weinsberg, the University of Geisenheim, the district administration and exNicrum Weinmanufaktur. The project received 480,000 euros in funding from the state and the EU. The final report from June 2023 is available. The media had reported. As a result, winegrowers are recommended to replant their vineyards with southern European and fungus-resistant grape varieties instead of Trollinger. And ways of marketing by the cooperatives will be shown. "Now it is up to the cooperatives and their members to implement the recommendations," says District Administrator Allgaier, who knows that the winegrowers will incur costs for the replanting of their vineyards and will suffer from a loss of income in the planting year and the following year, when they will not receive any grape money from the cooperative. Therefore, they need support through promotional measures.

New plantings on steep slopes are subsidized - open funding gap needs to be closed

New vineyards on steep slopes already receive state subsidies of 32,000 euros per hectare. The cooperatives pay grape money from the third year with the first yield. In addition, there is a state subsidy of 3,000 euros/hectare, which the winegrowers receive from the state each year as a management subsidy. For the two low-yield years after grubbing up and replanting, the district administrator sees a funding gap that needs to be closed.

Recommendation for cooperatives

The District Administrator is aware of the fact that almost ten years have passed since the start of the ILEK. In the meantime, many small and some larger winegrowing businesses have decided to stop cultivating steep slopes. It is therefore unfortunately the case that the cooperatives will not be able to maintain the entire stock of steep slopes with the Steile Weine concept. The District Council therefore recommends that the cooperatives define the following now:

  • Those steep slope areas that can be preserved with previously planted grape varieties, especially Trollinger.
  • Those steep-slope areas that are to be preserved with higher-quality new plantings according to the Steile Weine concept.
  • Those steep-slope areas that cannot be preserved with viticulture:
    • of which areas that must be preserved and secured in any case due to the risk of falling rocks for adjacent roads and paths and thus foreseeable traffic hazards;
    • of which the areas that are characteristic of the landscape or townscape and should at least be cleared and preserved with greenery; the municipalities should grant subsidies to the owners for this;
    • of which the areas that would be suitable for another subsequent use, including photovoltaics;
    • of which the areas that are peripheral and can be left to nature.

District Administrator Allgaier has invited the chairmen of the leading cooperatives to a meeting to discuss the next steps. "It is high time for action. We are jointly responsible. We need to know what we want before developments tell us that we can no longer want anything. That's why I'm advocating a close alliance between the players who are already working well together and their team sprint."

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