New wine from new vine­yards

The spec­tac­u­lar trans­for­ma­tion of the Lusa­t­ian Lake­land land­scape opens up com­pletely new pos­si­bil­i­ties for tourism – and also for wine­grow­ing. Pio­neer­ing vint­ners are recon­nect­ing with the region’s ancient wine­grow­ing tra­di­tions, and grow­ers and drinkers cel­e­brate the new ter­roirs at lively wine fes­ti­vals in autumn.

Lusa­tia was dom­i­nated by open­cast min­ing for over 150 years. When the exca­va­tors dis­ap­peared from the mines and new ideas for using the land were needed, many remem­bered the region’s cen­turies-old wine­grow­ing her­itage. It began in the 13th cen­tury with the first vine­yards in Lower Lusa­tia, and reached its peak in the 16th before com­ing to an end in the 20th cen­tury. But the old tra­di­tions have been revived since the start of the new mil­len­nium and young vines are now grow­ing on the slopes cre­ated by for­mer open­cast mines. In autumn, wine­grow­ers and organ­is­ers invite vis­i­tors to take part in wine fes­ti­vals, the grape har­vest, and tours and wine tast­ings.

The Lusa­t­ian Lake­land wine­grow­ing region is small, with seven grow­ers and asso­ci­a­tions cul­ti­vat­ing an area of around twelve hectares. Fun­gus-resis­tant vari­eties such as solaris and johan­niter are grown here, as are ries­ling and pinot blanc. They thrive on for­mer open­cast min­ing land, but also on old vine­yards, for exam­ple in the Muskau Bend UNESCO geop­ark. The wines are sold across the region as Bran­den­burger Landwein.

Wine­grow­ing around Lake Grossräschen

In 2012 and 2013, Andreas Wobar and his wife Cor­nelia planted around 5,000 vines on the steep­est slope in the whole of Bran­den­burg, above Lake Grossräschen on the edge of the for­mer Meuro open­cast mine. Both had a long-held pas­sion for wine­grow­ing, help­ing with the har­vest in Saale-Unstrut and trav­el­ling to vine nurs­eries around Ger­many.

The posi­tion of their vine­yard is ideal, as the lake acts as a heat store, the south-fac­ing, 30-33 per­cent gra­di­ent ensures opti­mal expo­sure to the sun and the boul­der clay soil gives the wine its unique char­ac­ter. The fam­ily only grows fun­gus-resis­tant vari­eties such as solaris, johan­niter, caber­net blanc and pinotin in order to min­imise the use of pes­ti­cides. The har­vest is turned into wine at the Schloss Proschwitz Prinz zur Lippe win­ery in Sax­ony.

The Wobars will be sell­ing their wines at the wine and fed­er­weisser (new wine) fes­ti­val on Sat­ur­day, 7 Sep­tem­ber, at the IBA Ter­races vis­i­tor cen­tre next to the vine­yard. Pri­vate vine­yard tours and wine tast­ings can be arranged by appoint­ment, and spe­cial­ist lec­tures are offered in the wine barn in Grossräschen, includ­ing a wine tast­ing, as well as wine tours on Lake Grossräschen on the ‘Wilde Ilse’ sight­see­ing boat.

Wolken­berg vine­yard

The wines pro­duced by Wolken­berg GmbH also grow on for­mer open­cast min­ing land. The vine­yard lies exactly where the vil­lage of Wolken­berg used to stand, before it had to make way for the Wel­zow open­cast mine in the early 1990s. When the mine closed, the energy com­pany Vat­ten­fall joined forces with Geisen­heim Uni­ver­sity and Bran­den­burg Uni­ver­sity of Tech­nol­ogy in Cot­tbus to cre­ate a 30 metre high hill. This fol­lowed a pro­ject in 2005, which involved plant­ing 99 vines in a test plot to find out which grape vari­eties thrived best on the reclaimed soil. Seven grape vari­eties now grow on six hectares, such as the white vari­eties pinot blanc, kern­ling and the rare roter ries­ling, as well as the red vari­eties caber­net dorsa and rondo. Wine­maker and co-direc­tor Mar­tin Schwarz presses the wines at his estate in Meis­sen. The for­mer test plot is now used by the Drebkau wine­grow­ers asso­ci­a­tion.

Vis­i­tors are encour­aged to help out with the wine har­vest. Dates are pub­lished on the web­site, and prior book­ing is required. On 28 Sep­tem­ber, excur­sio offers a dis­cov­ery tour of the vine­yard, the open­cast mine and the reclaimed areas, includ­ing a tast­ing of Wolken­berg wines. The tour can also be booked for groups. Wine tast­ings are also avail­able by arrange­ment.

Wine tours, wine fes­ti­vals and wine har­vest