NO RESTRICTIONS It has been a month since the floods wreaked havoc in many places in Western Europe, brooks and rivers overflowed dramatically due to storms, residents have lost their houses, belongings and even their lives, more than 180 in Germany alone . The municipality of Altenahr in Rhineland-Palatinate was also badly affected by storms and floods. Winemaker Lukas Sermann looks back. “We’re all not only tired but also mentally at our limits somewhere. We have had very, very many great moments, which also predominate. Of course, there are always disappointments when something is found and then doesn’t work or the lack of help for different things concerns from the public side. But basically we are tired and satisfied. ” The flood, he reports, has in no way taken away from him the will to continue. “When I got into the business, took over the business, I had a fixed goal and now, last year, I developed a vision. I am not deviating from that either, I just want to deliver the best possible quality, people are enthusiastic about wine our region. And now this is a new episode, I don’t want to say that it set us back, that may have accelerated some processes. I look forward to the whole thing very positively. ” Elmar Sermann, Lukas father, is also optimistic. “It is also the goal that the first wine is bottled in December. Then we will have wine again in nice new bottles with nice, clean labels, everything as we are used to and then it will slowly come back. And then we’ll see go on, I’m a bit optimistic. But I don’t want to deny that, everyone also has their difficult hours. When you talk to him, if you talk to him during the day, then he also says, now listen, then say he, in the evenings there is wailing misery when you consider all of that. ” This week the federal and state governments decided on a flood aid fund of 30 billion euros. Of this, the federal government wants to cover two billion euros for damage to federal infrastructure such as motorways alone. The remaining 28 billion euros are shared by the federal and state governments, with the states being able to pay off their share over 30 years.
–
