Bötzingen (dpa / lsw) - Wine from winegrowers' cooperatives in the Baden and Württemberg growing regions is becoming more expensive due to increased energy and fertilizer costs. "There is no way around price adjustments," said the President of the Baden-Württemberg Cooperative Association, Roman Glaser, on Monday in Bötzingen (Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald district). Companies are struggling with cost increases of around 10 to 20 percent, but according to the association it is still unclear how much will be passed on to consumers.
The harvest of the 70 winegrowers' cooperatives in the Baden wine-growing region should amount to around 90 million liters of wine must this year, which is an increase of more than 40 percent compared to the weak previous year. At that time, fungal infestation, among other things, made things difficult for the winegrowers in the growing region. In the Württemberg growing region, the 32 cooperatives are expected to harvest around 73 to 77 million liters.
After a hot and dry summer, he expects a qualitatively “excellent 2022 vintage,” said Glaser, referring to Baden. However, certain vines suffered in the summer, and some of them also had to be irrigated. In the separate growing areas of Baden and Württemberg, around two-thirds of the vineyards are cultivated by the cooperatives and their members.
Against the background of increased glass prices, the cooperative association in the southwest is planning a project for a reusable system with 0.75 liter bottles. There are already ways to return one-liter bottles. For such systems, everyone involved would have to pull together, including retail, said Glaser.
