Two and a half years after the flood disaster on 14-15 July 2021, the Ahr Valley is still a long way from its former glory. Many businesses first had to deal with the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic, then the devastating extent of the flood and are currently facing the growing burden of significantly higher costs in almost all areas of life.
Of course, we are delighted when sponsors continue to support us to the best of their ability. This was also the case at the 1st Tourism Day, where the main sponsor was Kreissparkasse Ahrweiler. Thank you very much.
The Ahr Valley lives from its diversity, especially when it comes to wine. The quality of Ahr wines has risen incredibly over the past 25 years. Our wines, especially the Pinot Noir, are highly recognised both national and international. With this in mind, I was very surprised that only wines from the largest winegrowers’ co-operative, DAGERNOVA, were available at the 1st Tourism Day. Exclusively. The quality of the wines on offer was at best just about up to the mainstream from the food retail trade.
Where were the real crescents of our fantastic Ahr wines? Why are we, as direct representatives of the Ahr Valley, only being offered basic wines from the largest regional co-operative? Is this supposed to be the current reflection of the highly deserved work of our winegrowers, some of whom are outstanding and span generations? Our winegrowers offer an incredible range, from active garage winegrowers and self-marketing family businesses to seven VDP wine estates – and thus actually the highest density of VDP winegrowers in terms of acreage.
I would be delighted if Ahrtal Tourismus could create more transparency for the 2nd Tourism Day planned for next year.