Leading fair ProWein is funding the shipment of special wine sets designed to raise money for flood victims in the Ahr Valley.
As db reported earlier this week, Catastrophic floods in the Ahr valley in Germany It has caused chaos and destroyed livelihoods, seeing entire wineries washed away by the torrent.
According to the German Wine Institute (DWI), barrels, bottles, equipment and machinery were washed away by the floodwater, wineries were submerged, warehouses destroyed and basic services such as water, electricity and mobile networks were also affected. Up to 200 people have lost their lives.
Since then, the international wine community has come out in force to support those most affected by the disaster. Machinery vendors have offered free repairs, or donated rented equipment, and winegrowers in various countries are selling special wine packages to donate proceeds to the cause.
One such relief effort is a campaign spearheaded by the St Antony Wine Estate. Under the name SOLID (H) RITYThe winery has assembled a case of six bottles donated by winegrowers from wine-growing regions such as France, Greece, Israel, Luxembourg, Austria and South Tyrol, with the proceeds going to the victims of the floods along the Ahr River. Over 10,000 games sold online in 48 hours and demand is still high.
Now ProWein, the leading international fair for the wine and spirits industry, has made a significant donation to the St Antony campaign, in order to finance the shipment of their wine cases to buyers.
"This flood disaster and its consequences for humans and the wine industry in the Ahr Valley has deeply moved us," said Michael Degen, CEO of Messe Dรผsseldorf, responsible for the staging of ProWein. โWe want to show our solidarity and help by making a donation. This helps finance the shipping costs for the wine sets. "
According to Paul Scumacher, owner of Weingut Paul Schumacher in the Ahr Valley, the chaos caused by the floods was "unprecedented" and "impossible to anticipate." He told db that few wineries had taken out insurance, as no one expected the flood to cause destruction of this magnitude.
A complete list of current aid programs can be found. here.
