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Northwest Germany’s Teutoburg Forest is famous for being the scene of one of the Roman Empire’s greatest military disasters, when three Roman legions were slaughtered by the local tribes.
It’s not so well known for its vineyards, but that could soon be a thing of the past.
Jan Brinkmann grows grapes in Bad Iburg near Osnabrück. “We have the first two authorised steep slopes in the whole of Lower Saxony here,” he says.
The farm has existed under the name Brinkmann for 750 years. However, the winery was only founded in 2018, when Brinkmann switched from pig farming.

This became possible when the European Union changed its laws to permit the planting of new vineyards. Since then, around 300 hectares (74o acres) of new vineyards have been allowed in Germany every year, and commercial viticulture has been permitted in Lower Saxony since 2016.
Jan Brinkmann’s father heard about this on the radio, and they leapt into action. “Now we can be the first for once,” the two farmers thought to themselves.
It’s a big challenge for Brinkmann, because he did not grow up even drinking wine, let alone making it. “We had beer and cola. You might have drunk wine at a wedding.”
There were never summers with as much sunshine as now in Belgium when I was a child
Damien Briard from the Château d’Annevoie domain in Belgium
Ernst Büscher from the German Wine Institute (DWI) does not find it unusual that former livestock farms or mixed farms have been turned into wineries.
“In the 1960s, viticulture wasn’t very widespread in Rheinhessen or the Southern Palatinate either.” Today, both regions are an integral part of the European wine landscape.
Whether it makes sense to plant vineyards is not just a question of the legal situation. The climate is ideal in the northern hemisphere from 30 to 50 degrees latitude. Jan Brinkmann’s land lies at 52 degrees, beyond the northern edge of the zone.

“But that’s where climate change comes into play,” says Ernst Büscher. “It’s simply getting warmer. In the southwest of Germany in particular, we have an increase in the average temperature of 1.5 degrees Celsius from April to October. That’s a lot.”
Red wine grapes now ripen better in Germany than they used to, making viticulture in northern regions more attractive.
Damien Briard from the Château d’Annevoie domain in Belgium learned winemaking in France, including in Bordeaux and Champagne. He is certain the climate has improved for grapes.

“There were never summers with as much sunshine as now in Belgium when I was a child,” he says.
This makes it easier to make wine in Belgium, “but climate change also scares me, of course”, he says.
And he sympathises with winemaker friends from Montpellier in the Languedoc region in the south of France, an area that has recently been affected by droughts.
[Champagne growers] were looking for soils similar to those in champagne, but with cooler and more moderate conditions
Manfred Stoll, of Geisenheim University in Germany, on English vineyards
Champagne, one of the northernmost wine-growing regions in Europe, is also being affected by global warming.
It lies between 48 and 49 degrees latitude, just within the official wine-growing zone. The cool continental climate usually produces grapes with a low sugar and high acid content – ideal for sparkling wine production.
While warmer summers threaten the typical Champagne style, a lot can be influenced in the vineyard, for example by the way the plants are defoliated.
Nevertheless, investors from Champagne began to look for new wine-growing regions. “They were looking for soils similar to those in Champagne, but with cooler and more moderate conditions,” says Manfred Stoll, a professor at Geisenheim University in Germany.
They found what they were looking for in the south of England. Champagne producers such as Taittinger now grow the typical Champagne grape varieties there.

The wines will never be called champagne, as this is a protected designation of origin, but England’s sparkling wines already enjoy an excellent reputation.
However, classic grape types cannot always be used in Nordic viticulture, says Stoll. Instead, varieties that are less susceptible to fungal diseases such as powdery mildew and downy mildew are planted.
“They require less plant protection,” explains Stoll. This is not only more sustainable, but also means less work for the winery.
For Brinkmann from Lower Saxony, who has long grown fodder for his pigs on his land, these were convincing arguments.

He planted the white fungus-resistant helios and solaris grapes. It’s a long-term commitment, as vines are planted for several decades.
He says he only realised later that the varieties he chose have a drawback. “Nobody goes to a wine festival and asks for helios.” But Büscher from the DWI believes that this may change in the future and also sees an opportunity for fungal-resistant wines.
“Perhaps one day they will have a competitive advantage,” he says. “Younger people in particular are paying more and more attention to sustainability.”


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Food and Drinks

Jan Brinkmann with grapes harvested from the family’s former pig farm in Lower Saxony, Germany. Photo: Instagram/weinhof_brinkmann

Vines on the Brinkmann wine estate amid the Teutoburg Forest in Lower Saxony, northwest Germany. Growing grapes has become viable further north in Europe because of climate change. Photo: Instagram/nils.liebig

Damien Briard from the Château d’Annevoie domain in Belgium learned winemaking in France. He says the climate for grapes in the country has improved since he was a child. Photo: Instagram/popsss_wines

Wines bottled on the Brinkmann estate in northwest Germany, formerly a pig farm. Photo: Instagram/weinhof_brinkmann

Ice crystals form on the Brinkmanns’ vines during winter. Photo: Instagram/ weinhof_brinkmann

Fungus-resistant solaris wine grapes from the 2020 harvest on the Brinkmann farm in Lower Saxony, northwest Germany. Photo: Instagram/weinhof_brinkmann

Breakfast wines broken down: what to quaff with your croissant

A breakfast set with German sparkling wine served at Cafe Blum in Wiesbaden, Germany. Sommeliers suggest breakfast wine pairings, from riesling to sparkling wines. Photo: Instagram/cafeblumwiesbaden

This wine is made for breakfast: translated into English, the name on the label is Breakfast Wine. It’s made from a blend of gruener veltliner, riesling and Welschriesling grapes. Photo: Instagram/smithandvine 

“A wine that doesn’t make you tired is fun,” says winemaker and advocate of breakfast wine Patrick Jacklin of Weingut Heitlinger in Östringen-Tiefenbach, southwest Germany. Instagram/patrickjacklin

A riesling Kabinett is many sommeliers’ choice of wine to have with breakfast. Photo: Instagram/rieslingbros

A fruity, not too alcoholic white wine is a good choice for breakfast, sommeliers and winemakers say. Photo: Instagram/lupogrz2022

Persimmon predicament in Taiwan as harvests fall and temperatures rise

Taiwanese farmer Lo Chih-neng looks at persimmons harvested at his farm in Dongshi district, Taichung City, on December 12, 2024. Lo says his harvest was down by more than a third in 2024. Photo: AFP

Lo Chih-neng puts harvested persimmons into plastic crates at his farm. Photo: AFP

Lo sells persimmons to a customer at his farm. Photo: AFP

Lo harvests persimmons in a field at his farm. Photo: AFP

Why Australia’s Hunter Valley wine region is worth a visit if you love great wines

Harkham Wines in Hunter Valley, Australia, has an Italian restaurant that looks out over the Brokenback Mountain range. Photo: Nikko To

Some of the finest wines from Tyrrell’s, one of Australia’s oldest wineries, in a tasting room at the label’s estate in Hunter Valley. Photo: Charmaine Mok

One of the grand private tasting rooms at Tyrrell’s. Photo: Charmaine Mok

Vinden Wines head Angus Vinden is a second-generation winemaker. Photo: Wine Australia

Twelve acres of land at Vinden Wines produce grape varieties including alicante bouschet, gamay, grenache, mourvedre, pinot meunier and shiraz. Photo: Vinden Wines

Vinden Wines makes a range of natural and minimal-intervention wines. Photo: Charmaine Mok

Winemaker Angus Vinden’s face graces the label of his limited-release wines. Photo: Vinden Wines

Some of the bottles under the Harkham Wines label. Photo: Nikki To

Drew Wallin, general manager at Harkham Wines, presents a series of wines for tasting. Photo: Charmaine Mok

Chef Shaun Nash (left) with Harkham Wines’ co-founder Richie Harkham at the winery’s restaurant, which opened in July. Photo: Nikki To

The vodka rigatoni at Harkham’s restaurant matches perfectly with the winery’s 2023 Alchimie Rose, general manager Drew Wallin says. Photo: Charmaine Mok

‘Mysterious’ fish that’s famous in Fukuoka, and why it is sumo wrestlers’ food of choice

Fukuoka chef Kazutaka Hagiwara prepares longtooth grouper. Photo: Llewellyn Cheung

Ingredients for “chanko nabe” or sumo wrestler’s stew, including longtooth grouper, a fish Japanese call kue which is a speciality of the southern city of Fukuoka. Photo: Llewellyn Cheung

Kazutaka Hagiwara, chef de cuisine of sushi restaurant Tomozuna on the top floor of the Hilton Fukuoka Sea Hawk, gets to work on a longtooth grouper in its kitchen. Photo: Llewellyn Cheung

Hitoshi Hirokawa, executive director of Fukuoka’s Nagahama Fish Market, calls longtooth grouper “the most famous fish in Fukuoka”. Photo: Llewellyn Cheung

The sharp teeth of the longtooth grouper make it difficult for sushi chefs to handle. Photo: Llewellyn Cheung

Dishes prepared using the flesh of the longtooth grouper fish, including sashimi (front). Photo: Llewellyn Cheung

A longtooth grouper at the seafood market in Fukuoka. Photo: Llewellyn Cheung

Longtooth grouper stew. Photo: Llewellyn Cheung

Lifestyle

Food & Drink

Thanks to global warming, white wine is now produced in Belgium and northwest Germany, and champagne grapes grow in southern England


Thanks to global warming, white wine is now produced in Belgium and northwest Germany, and champagne grapes grow in southern England.


Wine and Spirits

Germany

Climate change

Business of climate change