New wine queen comes from the Palatinate

NEUSTADT AN DER WEINSTRASSE. 76th German Wine Queen is Charlotte Weihl from the Palatinate. The 25-year-old won the election on 27 September in Neustadt an der Weinstraße in a final that was extremely exciting right up to the end. Julia Lambrich from the Middle Rhine and Katharina Gräff from the Nahe complete the new trio of royalty as German Wine Princesses.

"It's an indescribable feeling, a mixture of gratitude and being overwhelmed," said the newly crowned wine majesty, visibly moved immediately after her election. "I'm most looking forward to experiencing the coming time with the other two Wine Monarchs," explained the International Wine Business student. This is the 11th time that the Palatinate native has brought the crown of Germany's highest wine majesty to the second largest wine-growing region.

The public votes

There was an initial storm of cheers in the Neustadt Saalbau when DWI Head of Marketing Steffen Schindler announced the vote of the 70-strong jury as to which three of the five finalists would definitely wear a German wine crown. The new trio then had another opportunity to convince the jury and, above all, the audience in a joint round and with personal speeches. In the end, the viewers in the hall and at home in front of their screens online decided who would be the 76th German Wine Queen. There was a tense silence on the stage and in the hall when Steffen Schindler announced the result of the public vote: "Charotte Weihl is the new German Wine Queen." The two German Wine Princesses who had also been crowned congratulated the visibly moved new German Wine Queen with a warm embrace.

Charlotte Weihl and the two wine princesses were crowned by their predecessors to the cheering applause of the 700-strong audience. "We didn't just have three, not just five, we had twelve great candidates," emphasised Steffen Schindler. "With the newly elected trio of majesties, three extremely knowledgeable and confident representatives will competently represent the local wines worldwide," said the DWI marketing director. As the 76th German Wine Majesties, Charlotte Weihl, Julia Lambrich and Katharina Gräff will be travelling for a year on behalf of the German Wine Institute (DWI) at around 200 events in Germany and on international stages to convince both experts and consumers of the advantages of wines from German regions.

Whether individually or as a team - each of the three final candidates shone on this evening with ingenuity, quick-wittedness and a distinctive stage presence in the refreshingly entertaining tasks that had to be mastered in the big voting final. For example, in a concealed tasting, a wine had to be described with apt characteristics and then correctly assigned to the growing region. In the rhetoric game, the young experts showed that they can master even complicated challenges with rhetorical skill. The group proved their strength as a team when solving tricky tasks in an escape room game, in which the aim was to find a bottle of wine for the future wine queen. SWR presenter Holger Wienpahl provided the candidates with his usual motivational support during all their stage appearances.

Farewell to the previous trio

As part of their farewell ceremony, the 75th German Wine Maidens Eva Brockmann, Lea Baßler and Jessica Himmelsbach ceremoniously presented a donation of 2,750 euros to the non-profit organisation "Wine Saves Life e.V." The donation came from the auction of pleasure packages from all 13 wine regions as well as donations that the Wine Maidens were able to generate as patrons of the association during their time in office. One hundred per cent of the proceeds will go to children's aid projects that "Wine Saves Life" supports around the world.