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Sometimes it was a mushroom that destroyed the harvest, then the vines were stolen by partygoers.
Two years ago it was finally over with the vineyard at Stintfang, Germany's northernmost vineyard.
The underground station, on which the vines were enthroned, was rebuilt and the vineyard cleared.
For a long time it was not clear whether it should be planted again.
But now the Stuttgart winemaker Fritz Currle, the long-time winemaker and supervisor of the vineyard, has been commissioned to rebuild it.
So it's time to talk about the quality of Hamburg's wine and Hamburg as a wine town, because there could be a lot more to come.
WELT AM SONNTAG:
Growing wine on Stintfang - a hill in the middle of Hamburg, also close to the Kiez - sounds strange at first.
But let's start with a look at the location from a winemaker's point of view.
What is it about?
How is the sun exposure, the floor?
What is cheap, what is not so cheap?
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Fritz Currle: Growing
wine there isn't a bad thing.
Basically everything looks favorable there, such as the ground, the south-facing position, the solar radiation.
With Regent, we also use a special type of wine that is interspecific, i.e. very resistant to fungi and frost.
It is also very precocious.
It wouldn't work in Hamburg with late-ripening varieties like the ones we grow in Stuttgart, i.e. Riesling or Lemberger.
You wouldn't get mature enough.
The only downside to Hamburg is that it is very windy.
But that's also why Regent is particularly suitable.
The vines grow relatively upright and are therefore not so susceptible to wind.
Viticulture is a tradition in Hamburg
WELT AM SONNTAG:
The limits of viticulture are shifting further and further north due to climate change.
Currle:
Hamburg and
viticulture have a long
tradition, regardless of that.
In the 18th century, as a hamburger once told me, there was supposed to have been a 3000 square meter vineyard in Blankenese and its own winery.
And climate change is now making things interesting again.
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WELT AM SONNTAG:
Where exactly would viticulture be worthwhile in Hamburg?
And have you ever had serious inquiries from hamburgers who wanted to cultivate wine on their property?
Currle:
I tell you: Down the Elbchaussee you could plant numerous vineyards.
The Elbe slopes are perfect for this.
I have already given on-site advice to two retirees who own a piece of land there.
The villa with a view of the Elbe was right at the top.
And the vineyard was to be built on the slope, more or less steeply.
That would have been possible without further ado.
Unfortunately nothing has come of it so far.
But if I were younger, I would immediately buy a piece of land, build a large vineyard and move to Hamburg.
WELT AM SONNTAG: There
is a catch, however.
The properties there are hardly affordable.
With that, viticulture is probably not worthwhile.
After all, you can plant an exclusive inner city location.
How did that happen?
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Currle:
The idea came to me for the tenth anniversary of the Stuttgart
Wine Village
, which we held every year in Hamburg.
For the first few years we lived in the “Hafen Hamburg” hotel with “Kiez-König” Willi Bartels.
And whenever I had a day off, I went for a walk on the jetties and the Stintfang.
And I thought I was going to build a vineyard right here.
At first I was declared crazy.
But then we asked the city.
The then Mayor Ute Pape supported us.
We started with 50 vines.
And that worked well.
WELT AM SONNTAG:
Who looks after the vineyard when you are in Stuttgart?
Currle:
I can't come every 14 days, that's right.
There is a circle of friends who care.
They are all former Swabians who now live in Hamburg.
I'll be there in the spring, cut the vines, tie them up, clean up the stakes.
What to do.
The group of friends does the work in summer.
And I'll come back up for the grape harvest, and we'll do it together.
WELT AM SONNTAG:
If you compare the Hamburg grape juice with the wine that you produce yourself, can it be enjoyed at all?
Currle:
Yes, absolutely.
We also work very hard for it.
Two hours after the harvest, the grapes are already in the refrigerated container and on their way to our winery in Stuttgart-Ulbach.
We press the grapes quite regularly.
These are not large quantities.
They are fermented with the skin on and matured regularly, a classic must fermentation.
Depending on how big the harvest is, we use a large glass balloon or a small wooden barrel for the maturation of the wine.
Every now and then I was told that I should also add a bit of the Stuttgart wine (Currle laughs).
But that's bullshit.
If we harvest a lot, there is also a lot.
Otherwise not much remains.
This is original Hamburg wine.
"We could get started in May or June"
WELT AM SONNTAG:
In the past, grapes were stolen from the vines again and again.
Currle:
Yeah, the grape
theft
was the biggest problem.
We kept telling the city that you had to put a fence around the mountain four weeks before the harvest, when the grapes were ripe.
But that was never done.
And then again and again the grapes were gone.
In a year all the equipment for the harvest was already on the way to Hamburg, so they called me in the morning and said you don't have to come, the grapes were all stolen tonight.
They must have been professionals, they completely emptied the vineyard.
But otherwise there is also a lot of public traffic there.
And then it happens every now and then that someone picks something.
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WELT AM SONNTAG:
When should the new Hamburg vineyard arise?
Currle:
The vineyard used to be on the roof of the Landungsbrücken subway station, and that's where it should go again.
The official plans are to start planting next spring.
But the way I see it, one could easily prefer that.
The sandy soil is loose, and there are not as big crumbs of earth as ours.
If it were up to me, we could get started in May or June.