Steep slope viticulture

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Terraces of the Cannstatter Zuckerle in Stuttgart separated by dry stone walls

As steep vineyards is called the wine-growing on extremely steep slopes which no management in the fall line with wheeled tractors permit. Terrace viticulture is carried out in traditional small plots, which are divided by dry stone walls and wall stairs. The bricks were broken from the surrounding rock and can therefore consist of sandstone (Mainviereck, lower Taubertal), shell limestone (Neckar valley, Jagsttal), slate (Moselle, Middle Rhine, Ahr, Rheingau), syenite ( Lößnitz ) or river pebbles. In corridor adjusted steep slopes other species of retaining walls to find, especially in the investment of farm roads and drainage systems .

Famous steep slopes

Particularly well-known steep slopes in Germany are the Moselle , Middle Rhine , Ahr and large parts of the Neckar valley (rock gardens near Besigheim , Cannstatter Zuckerle). Steep slopes also characterize viticulture in the Austrian regions of Wachau and Sausal as well as the Swiss cantons of Vaud (Lavaux, Chablais) and Valais .

The steepest vineyards in Europe are the Engelsfelsen in Baden's Bühlertal with 75 ° and Calmont on the Moselle with an angle of inclination of up to 68 ° (45 ° corresponds to 100% gradient). Other world-famous steep slopes are near Bernkastel-Kues ( Bernkasteler Doctor ), Rüdesheim am Rhein ( Rüdesheimer Berg : Schlossberg, Rottland and Roseneck) and Assmannshausen (Höllenberg) as well as in Triefenstein (Homburger Kallmuth) and Würzburg ( Stein ) am Main.

The most famous steep slopes in France are the Rangen de Thann in Alsace and the slopes of Condrieu , Côte-Rôtie , Hermitage and Cornas in the northern Rhône Valley . In Italy , the Cinque Terre fall into the same category.

Management of steep slopes

Steep location in Wiltingen on the Saar
Helicopter in the plant protection operation on the Middle Moselle

Depending on the type of soil, the limit of direct traction is between 45% and 55% slope. The fall line is managed either with a rope hoist (seat plow) or, more recently, with special crawler vehicles . All essential care work such as tillage, plant protection , fertilization , leaf cutting , grape transport and chemical weed control can be mechanized in this way. However, the grapes are still harvested by hand, and work is currently underway on the development of a rope-pulled harvester.

Extensive land consolidation procedures are used to try to achieve direct access as far as possible. If the land is suitable, narrow terraces that can be driven on can also be pushed into the slope (transverse terracing). However, the necessary slopes between the terraces mean that 40 percent of the cultivation area is lost. The embankments need to be looked after so that they do not become overgrown. Larger transverse terraces were carried out in the Ortenau near Durbach and Kappelrodeck , in the Jagsttal near Dörzbach , at the Kaiserstuhl near Oberrotweil-Oberberg and Ihringen-Abtsweingarten , in the Middle Rhine Valley ( Oberweseler Oelsberg) and on the Lower Moselle near Koblenz-Moselweiß .

If the parcels are interrupted by walls, they are managed entirely by hand. Only material and people can be transported via monorail cog railways ( monorack ). Plant protection is carried out in contiguous areas with helicopters . Special treatments are usually carried out from the ground using hose spraying, and in small businesses also with motorized knapsack sprayers.

Traditionally, very labor-intensive educational systems are often used. On the Moselle, Ahr and Valais, these are single-pole education on the stake, like the Moselle stake education . In South Tyrol the pergel or roof arbor education. On the one hand, it is due to the fact that the individual plots are very small, which also applies topographically. Retaining walls hardly allow a larger parcelling unless entire slopes are re-leveled (transverse terracing). Since there is only limited management relief in locations that can only be worked by hand by changing the form of upbringing, the willingness to switch to wire frames is also not very great. In many cases, viticulture is carried out by small businesses as a sideline, so that new plantings are seldom made. This also means that many systems are outdated. One of the main advantages of traditional systems is the ability to walk across the slope. Only when technology can be used appropriately is a change in education also economically lucrative.

Viticulture on steep slopes as maintenance of the cultural landscape

Due to production conditions that are no longer cost-covering, increasingly steep vineyards fall out of production and become a social wasteland. To preserve the landscape, subsidies for cultivation and restocking are granted on the Moselle. Since these vineyards shape the landscape very much, areas that are not cultivated are noticeable very negatively from a long distance. A minimum maintenance of the fallow land, i.e. the clearing of no longer cultivated vines, so-called Drieschen , and regular mowing of the growth should contribute to the preservation of the cultural landscape. In addition, dangerous pathogens such as phylloxera or black rot of the vine (a fungal disease of the vine) are held back. Keeping former vineyards open also has ecological aspects, as this means that warmth-loving animal and plant species can be preserved. For example, earlier terraced vineyards in the Jagsttal , Taubertal or in the Tübingen area are maintained by nature conservation groups and collapsed dry stone walls are rebuilt. These projects are dependent on donations or public funding. The management of individual vineyards within nature and landscape protection areas is problematic. In addition to increasing shade from bushes and trees growing up at the borders such soils of also be enhanced by black and roe deer and pest birds such as blackbirds and thrushes , haunted. Measures that serve to facilitate management, such as removing retaining walls or leveling the site in the case of new plantings, are often prohibited due to landscape protection regulations. Adjacent natural areas can be adversely affected by the entry of fertilizers and pesticide drift. By growing fungus-resistant varieties, these inputs can be largely reduced. Such properties are often maintained by hobby winemakers who care about the preservation of the cultural landscape and who want to make a profit plays a subordinate role.

The cultural landscape of Dresden-Radebeul to Diesbar-Seusslitz with its steep slopes in the Elbe Valley, located in the Saxon wine-growing region, is particularly worth preserving in its northern location in the eastern part of Germany. The large area of Radebeuler Lößnitz there is largely covered by the historical vineyard landscape of Radebeul as a section of an old cultural landscape that is still being cultivated today or after the recovery.

Also in the Engelsfelsen in Baden, the Förderverein Engelsfelsen Bühlertal e. V. manages it on a voluntary basis and serves as a show vineyard to demonstrate historical viticulture on the terrace.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Johann Werfring: Finesse from meager crumbs In: " Wiener Zeitung " of November 16, 2012, supplement "Wiener Journal", pp. 34–35.