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In the Siebengebirge near Bonn it's actually over.
Until then, the Middle Rhine wine-growing region extends with its mild climate and sunny slopes.
Together with the twelve other German wine-growing regions, it stands for quality wine.
So where else should wine be grown in North Rhine-Westphalia?
In Westphalia and the Siegerland, for example.
There the still young vineyards are part of projects that follow global warming and whose maintenance serves social purposes.
The trend towards regional products brings both long-established professionals and newcomers to lively demand from consumers.
“A lot of people first shake their heads,” says managing director Alexander Reichenau.
In Hilchenbach north of Siegen, which is a neighboring town of Kreuztal with the large Krombach brewery, 1,500 vines are on a former pasture.
They were planted in the past two years by disadvantaged young people to whom the non-profit Lagano GmbH offers training positions in horticulture.
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At first one of them had the dream of a career as a winemaker in mind.
For the training he could be placed at a winery in Rhineland-Palatinate, as Reichenau says.
At the same time, however, the search for a suitable plot of land for a local vineyard began.
The young man has now graduated as a winemaker, and the vines in Hilchenbach have already produced their first grapes.
"We have received a positive response from the region," says Reichenau.
Both some companies and private individuals have already asked whether they can be reserved for the first wine.
He expects the first real harvest in the coming year.
In order to secure the wine project and thus a field of activity for the young people in the long term, he also relies on Rebstock sponsorships.
The company employs four young people in the horticultural sector and another four in the housekeeping and office sectors.
"The vineyard is not the only job, but every now and then work for a week or two."
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Around 100 kilometers north, in Dortmund, the Emschergenossenschaft created a vineyard on Lake Phoenix in 2012 with almost 100 vines.
White wine now grows on the former steel mill area.
The proceeds will benefit an integrative sailing project, explains company spokesman Ilias Abawi.
In 2018, a second vineyard with over 300 vines was added near the Rüpingsbach in Dortmund.
Participation and sponsorships are possible here.
"That is what is very popular with people: the regional."
Viticulture also stands for a new quality of life on the former Emscher sewer, which is being freed from contaminated sites and renatured.
As more and more people were looking for nature and hands-on projects, “I could bet that it wasn't the last vineyard,” says Abawi.
"We keep moving with viticulture."
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The main occupation of professional viticulture has so far been four companies in North Rhine-Westphalia that cultivate around 20 hectares in the Siebengebirge.
That comes from data from the Chamber of Agriculture.
There are also dozens of hobby winemakers: Up to 1000 square meters, on which up to 700 vines can be planted, viticulture is considered a hobby and therefore does not require a permit.
But this is subject to the conditions that there is no commercial activity and the wine is only served in one's own household and not at parties, as Chamber Spokesman Bernhard Rüb explains.
Interest in viticulture is growing, Rüb even speaks of a previously unknown dynamic.
In 2020, the upper limit for additional wine-growing areas of five hectares per year in North Rhine-Westphalia, which has been in force since 2016, has been almost exhausted for the first time.
According to the Chamber's observation, the successful applicants included one or the other farmer who wants to grow wine in addition to grain, sugar beet and potatoes.
The colorful wine-growing landscape in North Rhine-Westphalia also includes vines on the disused mining shaft in Hünxe on the Lower Rhine.
Historically, viticulture has been widespread in the Rhineland since Roman times, including in Cologne, for example.
“Only around the turn of the century before last, phylloxera forced numerous businesses to give up.
After the Second World War, Kölsch and Alt then replaced wine as the dominant drink at festivals, ”says Rüb.
Steep slope between the Rhine and the mighty Drachenfels.
The Pieper winery in Königswinter, which is the largest with over nine hectares of cultivation area in North Rhine-Westphalia, can advertise with these images.
The Vinum Wine Guide recently named it “Newcomer of the Year” for the Middle Rhine region.
This year, with an initiative by the Rhein-Sieg district, junior boss Felix Pieper wants to recultivate an approximately 2500 square meter vineyard nearby that had been fallow for decades.
The climate change with drought plays a role: "This is a topic that concerns us a lot." When choosing the vines, we must carefully consider what is sustainable and profitable.