If the wine world held a beauty contest, the 2,000-year-old vineyards of the curvy Mosel Valley would be an easy winner. The steep slopes that produce some of the best rieslings on the planet are an ever-changing delight to the eyes as well as the palate, and represent one of those rare times when the collaboration of man and nature turned out exactly right. Until now, that is. In one of the most insensitive acts of infrastructure spending that modern Germany is likely to witness, regional politicians are about to construct a towering 1.7-kilometre bridge across the Mosel at the renowned wine town of Ürzig, part of a new four-lane highway that will permanently alter some of the riesling-lover's most cherished vineyards.