"Suddenly the Piwis are interesting for everyone"
From Klaus Riexinger Mon, October 26, 2020 at 2:26 pm
Baden-Württemberg wants to save a large amount of chemical pesticides in viticulture - anchored in law. Varieties that are resistant to pests should help. They are bred in Freiburg.
- Viticulture also has to rethink - and increasingly do without pesticides Photo: Christoph Schmidt (dpa)
Organic wine growing in Baden is having a hard time. So far only six percent of the area has been dispensed with chemical sprays, while it is almost ten percent nationwide. “The bad thing in Baden is the combination of warm and damp weather in the course of climate change,” says Paulin Köpfer, Chairman of Ecovin Baden. The association represents the interests of organic vintners. The vines are therefore exposed to severe fungal attack in some years. While conventional vintners have the entire arsenal of chemical sprays available to protect them, organic vintners are only allowed to use a limited amount of copper. This can become a problem in difficult years. The number of organic winegrowers in Baden even declined a few years ago. 20 years ago, Baden was still considered a leader in organic viticulture.
international organic wine award - the autumn tasting 2020 with 474 wines from 19 countries and 69 PIWI wines
PAR®-Quality competition held again in the virtual space - top topic 2020: climate change and how the international scene is responding to it
Frasdorf, October 2020 - As successfully introduced in spring 2020, the autumn edition of the international organic wine award also took place from October 16 to 18, in strict compliance with the PAR®-Standards, held entirely in virtual space*). A total of 26 PAR ensured the usual quality and traceability of the results® Certified Master Tasters in Germany and Spain, supported by the established digital infrastructure of WINE System AG. Numerous organic wineries from all over the world put their trust in this in the second 2020 edition: This is how PAR®-Jury tasting 474 wines from 19 countries. A total of 40 great gold, 212 gold, 190 silver and 25 recommendations were awarded.
The results of the wines with fungus-resistant grape varieties: 3 times large gold 28 times gold 30 times silver
96 points 2019 Braunsberg Cabernet Cortis and Chambourcin from Irmgard Windegger from South Tyrol, 96 points 2019 Schnaiter Muscaris Auslese and 2018 Schnaiter Johanniter Spätlese from the winery in Hagenbüchle from the Remstal.
Wine for Future: Discover new grape varieties INVITATION to PIWI online wine tasting with Slow Food Germany
Dive on Friday December 4th, 2020 from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. with our tasting package and the sensory descriptions and comments of the renowned Wine sommelier Natalie Lumpp into the world of PIWI wines. In conversation with other wine experts - Martin Wurzer-Berger (SFD Wine Commission), Paulin Köpfer (ECOVIN & PIWI-International) and Ulrich Amling (Tagesspiegel Berlin) - Natalie Lumpp traces the current challenges in viticulture, especially the effects of climate change the use of pesticides, which is extremely problematic for species protection.
In times of extreme weather events and climate changes, winegrowers face major challenges. Vintners have to fear for their harvest because of various fungal infections and therefore - often with a heavy heart - resort to the chemical club, which endangers bees, other pollinators and ultimately the bio-cultural diversity. In fact, over half of the fungicides used in the EU end up in the vineyard. Autochthonous and classic varieties are coming under increasing pressure and are forcing the use of pesticides and fungicides. For Slow Food, a thoroughly ambivalent situation arises between the preservation of old varieties and the commitment to low-chemical, environmentally friendly viticulture. In order to at least partially avoid the dilemma, organic viticulture is increasingly relying on PIWI varieties. In the course of climate and environmental changes, can the fungus-resistant new grape varieties (PIWI) be sustainable alternatives worth supporting? Can these new varieties keep up in terms of taste with the tried and tested? We want to discuss this with you - combined with a practical tasting of six PIWI wines from Germany, in order to make the PIWI tangible.
How does the Slow Food Germany online tasting work?
You register and receive six selected wines from the ECOVIN PIWI EcoWinners Sent in 2020. Slow Food Germany will send you the access data and technical information by email before the event.
On December 4th In 2020 they will tune in live at 7 p.m. and can enjoy the evening and the wines under the guidance of Natalie Lumpp.
The cost of that Wine package (six bottles of wine including shipping) including the event amount to a total of 49 €.
We have selected the following wines for you:
- 2019 Helios quality wine | dry organic winery Schaffner | Bötzingen am Kaiserstuhl | to bathe
- 2018 Cabernet Blanc Edition quality wine | dry organic winery Stutz | Heilbronn | Württemberg
- 2017 Orangewine Cabernet Blanc Country Wine | dry Weingut Wöhrle | Bockenheim | Palatinate
- 2018 Cabernet Cortis quality wine | dry ecological winery Wedekind | Nierstein | Rheinhessen
- 2018 Regent quality wine | dry Timo Dienhart -Zur Roman wine press | Maring-Noviand | Moselle
- 2018 * velvet and silk * quality wine | semi-dry / semi-dry Weingut Janson Bernhard | Zellertal | Palatinate
Please log in >>> here binding until 11/11/2020. The order of the wine package is automatically linked to the registration. 11.11. is the last possible order and registration date. The wine packages will be shipped on November 25/26, 2020.
More information about PIWI wines at: https://piwi-international.de/
Questions under projektbeauftragte@slowfood.de
PIWI Harvest 2020 - Germany
Many thanks to @weingutgaller and @weingut_edelbrennerei_gemmrich for these exciting insights!
PIWI Harvest 2020 - Austria
Wolfgang Renner, PIWI Austria, 2020 Pinot Nova and Sauvignac.
Future music in sustainable viticulture - SlowFood
Wine made from fungus-resistant vines (PiWi) was the subject of a slow food tasting in summer. Not only wine drinkers in our association know that Slow Food has so far been campaigning for traditional grape varieties threatened with extinction. Martin Wurzer-Berger on the tasting - and the advantages of these "new varieties". ....
THE SELECTED WINES
In addition to the mentioned Helios, a matured Bronner (2016er Grunerner Altenberg from the Köpfer winery in Staufen-Grunern), a dry Muscaris (2019er from the Andreas Dilger winery in Freiburg), two also dry Cabernet Blancs (both from the 2019 vintage: Winery Zähringer in Heitersheim and Lösskindl natural wine, Kiefer winery / Schmidt winery in Eichstetten) and a dry red wine cuvée (2018 Bacat: Freiburg State Winery made from Cabernet Carbon and Cabernet Cortis grape varieties).
Conclusion:
The general assessment of the four speakers is that the acceptance for PiWi varieties cannot be awakened overnight, but that this path will be extremely rewarding. Overall, this applies to the necessarily more complex view that we have to take on the conditions under which luxury foods and food are produced. ●
Author: Martin Wurzer-Berger
Source: SlowFood Magazin 5/2020
For the benefit of nature and the winemaker
In Buchheim, experts will discuss the advantages and marketing of fungus-resistant grape varieties / cuvées as an opportunity
Friedline Gurr-Hirsch, State Secretary in the Ministry for Rural Areas, discussed Piwis with wine professionals at the Marcher Schill-Hof
Extract from the article:
Less crop protection, less work: Despite many advantages, “Piwis”, ie fungus-resistant grape varieties, still lead a niche existence. Winegrowers from the Freiburg region want to change that.
…..
At the end of the tasting, State Secretary Gurr-Hirsch stated that the Piwis actually fit perfectly into the country's self-set goal of significantly reducing plant protection by 2030. Unfortunately, the area planted with them is still very manageable, although the new varieties have been an issue for a long time. But with climate change, they came back into focus. Gurr-Hirsch, who was German Wine Queen in 1976/77, also sees opportunities for Piwis in the changed drinking behavior of the younger generation in particular and the current mood of consumers towards more regionality.
But now it is important to convince the consumers, but also the cellar masters of the large cooperatives, of the advantages. With the additional benefits of the more robust varieties, the feeling of doing something good and enjoying high-quality wine, this could be achieved, says the member of the state parliament. For this, among other things, thinking in terms of single-origin marketing would have to be overcome - those present agreed on this.
Source: Badische Zeitung by Mario Schöneberg
Project PIWI - THE PERFECT VINE
Article from FALSTAFF September 2020 with great results from the PIWI Trophy from our members - Congratulations!
Viticulture without pesticides? What sounds like a pipe dream could now become a reality. Thanks to new grape varieties that are immune to fungi and still make good wines. A big step towards sustainable viticulture.
Source: Falstaff, authors Dominik Vombach, Peter Moser, Ulrich Sautter
Fungus-resistant grape varieties - the new PIWI book
- Big on the rise: ecological viticulture with fungus-resistant grape varieties (PIWI varieties).
- The book by PIWI pioneers Fredi Strasser and Franziska Löpfke, Willimann Jürg (photographer)
ISBN: 978-3-258-08187-8
(more…)
Freiburg Grape Variety and Clone Day on September 3rd, 2020
on the Blankenhornsberg in Ihringen.
The process will be as follows:
9:00 a.m. Guided tour of the facilities with:
- fungus-resistant white and red wine varieties
- Minimal cut system
- Cloning of standard grape varieties
- Viticultural experiments: - Working under the vines
- Canopy management 12:00 noon small snack (butter pretzels)
1:00 p.m. open wine tasting on the topics from the morning (schedule depends on the corona situation)
Wine competition "Best of Freiburg Piwis 2020"
The wines that took part in the 10th “Best of Freiburg Piwis” competition on July 7th, 2020 at the Freiburg State Viticulture Institute (WBI) were of a high standard. The term "Piwis" stands for fungus-resistant grape varieties. The three most highly rated wines were awarded in various categories.
A total of 64 wine-growing companies from Germany, Italy, Austria, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands and Switzerland had entered a total of 181 wines, sparkling wines and seccos. An expert jury determined the best among them in 14 categories with blind tastings. The results were sometimes surprising: several companies from the Netherlands impressed with their high quality wines. A number of wineries from the Baden region were able to confirm their good results in the earlier “Best of Freiburg Piwis” competitions. Overall, it was shown that the wines presented are of a pleasingly high quality level, with which further customer groups can be successfully addressed.
PIWI AT: New / innovative grape varieties 2020 - 30 percent more submissions
With an increase in the number of entries by exactly 32% compared to the previous year, the success story of the Austrian wine competition for PIWI varieties continues! Chairman Wolfgang Renner is convinced: "PIWIS can no longer be stopped"!
©Spandl
For the second time the association “PIWI Austria” organized the wine competition “New / innovative grape varieties” for Austrian wines made from fungus-resistant grape varieties. This year there were already an astonishing 146 wines from 64 different companies. As in the previous year, most of the wines came from Styria, which traditionally and climate-related has a larger PIWI area than the other wine-growing federal states. This time, however, the participants from the federal state of Lower Austria made a strong performance. More than a third of all wines submitted came from there and six out of ten categories were won!
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