Germany's harvest of "ice wine" (a rather sweetdessert wine produced from grapes that have frozen while still on the vin) has failed for the first time ever because the winter has been too warm.
"The 2019 vintage will go down in history here in Germany as the first year in which the ice harvest has failed nationwide," the German Wine Institute (DWI) said in a statement.
"If the warm winters continue in the next few years, ice wines from German wine regions will soon become even more of a rarity than they already are," said Ernst Büscher from the DWI.
Another problem for ice wine production is that, in recent years, the dates for a possible ice harvest have shifted later - to January and February - while the grapes are ripening earlier, the DWI said.
As a result, the grapes need to survive for longer.
Press release DWI