As I sat in Dubai sipping a petit chablis, watching the summer close (yet again, the hottest summer on record), my mind wandered to the inevitable question: What impact is climate change having on the wine industry?
The effects of climate change have now become an undeniable part of modern-day life. For wine production, which requires a particular ‘terroir’ (a fancy French word to collectively describe the environmental, climate and soil factors that give wine its character), climate change is having a profound impact. From temperature change deeming some traditional wine growing regions too ‘hot’ to erratic weather conditions such as downpours and bitter frosts, the wine industry is facing a serious challenge, one to which, if it does not respond, it may start to see a serious diminishing return on its harvest.
Wine has been in production for thousands of years, with the earliest evidence of wine found in present-day Georgia (circa 6000 BCE), Persia (5000 BCE), Italy, and Armenia (4000 BCE). It is believed that the Phoenicians introduced wine to ancient Greece, and wine proliferated in other European countries (France, Italy, and Spain) during the Roman Empire. Akin to wine knowing no boundaries, the same can be said for carbon, the modern-day heat-trapping compound largely responsible for the modern-day phenomenon known as global warming. In fact, since the industrial revolution (circa 1850), due to the increased carbon emissions from the burning of fossil fuels in the atmosphere, the Earth’s average surface temperature has warmed by about 1.1°C wreaking havoc on weather systems, supply chains, biodiversity and the livelihood of many and in particular, those in the wine industry.
Given the importance of heat for achieving the optimum grape (sugar) consistency, most wine regions are located in areas where average temperatures fall between 12°C and 22°C during the growing season (April to October in the northern hemisphere; October to April in the south) at latitudes of 30° to 50°. However, with global warming, the latitudes between which wine may be grown are migrating north, deeming some stalwart wine-making regions too hot.
Rising temperatures aren’t the only aspect of climate change impacting the industry. Wildfires in British Columbia, Canada, have not only destroyed vines and wine-making infrastructure in the wine-making region of Okanagan but have also posed a risk to overall wine taste, a phenomenon known as ‘smoke taint’. Similarly, a victim of unprecedented heavy rainfall and bitter frost, the Jura region of France is set to see a fall of 71% in its production this year, with Frances’s overall production set to fall by 20%, largely attributable to losses in production attributable to unprecedented heavy rains in July and higher than average temperatures in August.
In a bid to limit global warming, 196 countries have signed up to the 2015 Paris Agreement. Their shared goal is to ensure that global temperatures do not increase by more than 2°C above pre-industrial levels. Climate agendas include the development of alternative energy sources, other forms of climate technology and rolling out climate adaptation and mitigation efforts.
For those that see the glass as ‘half full’, climate devastation has, in parallel, bred a whole new wave of wine-making adaptation and innovation. In response to excessive heat, many winemakers (such as in parts of Bordeaux) are now harvesting grapes at cooler temperatures at night or early in the morning. Similarly, changing weather conditions have spurred wine producers to explore differing terroirs for grape growing – winemakers in Chile are exploring hill-grown wine as opposed to the traditional valleys due to water shortages and in Argentina, growers are venturing further south to Patagonia. Similarly, warmer temperatures may offer a new market with enhanced grape growing conditions for regions such as the south of England, northern France, Washington State, Oregon and Tasmania.
As the climate changes, so must the wine-making industry. Whilst adaptation efforts are well underway, their rollout is needed at scale to ensure the continued sustenance of our favoured vintage. Climate innovation, such as new technologies and process change, will indeed be toasted but ultimately take time. And given the speed at which we need to decarbonise, and at such a scale, this may be the one ingredient for which the wine industry may not have enough.
By Mary O Leary, a wine enthusiast and wine educator. O Leary also holds a director role at a global consultancy in sustainability.
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