Nathan: In July last year large parts of the Ahr Valley, a wine-growing region or “Weinanbaugebiet” in western Germany, were destroyed by a catastrophic flood. Since then, winemakers have been doing their best to rebuild their livelihoods, as it wasn’t just the vines, “[die] Reben”, that were destroyed, but their buildings and wine cellars too. Elmar Sermann, the retired owner of a family wine business, tells us that in an initial period of anarchy without any red tape, they got to work and accomplished a lot. Now, they are being pushed from pillar to post by public authorities, with no one taking responsibility: one is blaming the other, “einer schiebt es auf den anderen”. What also makes it harder is that in retrospect, “im Nachhinein”, the damage is much bigger than they thought at first. In spite of all this, however, his winery – Weingut Sermann – is making good progress: as of mid-August, they’re planning to move their estate tavern, or “Gutsausschank”, back into their newly renovated main building.