It could have been an extraordinary coronation ceremony when a newly crowned German Wine Queen hands over her Rheingau crown to her successor.

But Valerie Gorgus unexpectedly came away empty-handed the evening before “Rheingau Royal”.

Many of the 23-year-old marketing manager at the Robert Weil winery had confidence that the Rheingau Viticulture Association would finally end the almost half-century lean period.

In 1972, Ulrike Neradt was the last woman from the Rheingau to win the German Wine Crown.

Since then, the event in Neustadt an der Weinstrasse has been a disappointment for the region between Lorch and Wicker year after year.

Oliver Bock

Correspondent for the Rhein-Main-Zeitung for the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis and for Wiesbaden.

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"That was not a defeat," says Gorgus in the dormitory of Eberbach Monastery and referred to profitable experiences and new networks.

But the tears spoke a different language when the guests rose from their chairs.

Gorgus was reserved to put the queen's crown on her previous princess Annika Walther from Hallgarten.

Freestyle with no choice

The 71st Rheingau Wine Queen did not have to make a choice this time because the 21-year-old Lorcher Mara Schneider had decided on the role of princess from the outset.

Both do not come from wineries, but are friends of the international wine industry at the Geisenheim University of Applied Sciences.

Moderator Wolfgang Jungglas spoke of an "all-terrain" team that, as the pandemic subsides, may have more appointments and trips ahead of them than Gorgus, whose term of office had therefore been extended by one year. In the end, Gorgus probably spent more time tasting online in front of cameras than in front of a “real” audience. After all, she thoroughly enjoyed being in the spotlight. The stage has become her home, she said: "My path continues."

Unlike Gorgus, the Viticulture Association will no longer oblige its successor Walther to represent the Rheingau in the election of the German Wine Queen.

This is also a consequence of the anger over the election result.

Viticulture President Peter Seyffardt briefly but sharply criticized the process, which in his view was no longer up-to-date.

If this is not changed, it will be up to the Rheingau Wine Queen to decide whether she wants to make this choice in the future.