Climate Change - A Threat and Opportunity in Established Wine Regions

Many groups in yesterday’s presentations brought up climate change as either a risk to or reason for the “emerging” status of wine regions. Of course, climate change is also affecting established wine growing regions. However, the change is viewed as both an opportunity and a threat, and regions have been responding in different ways.

Take Germany – they just wrapped up the hottest spring and summer on record in 2018. While this hurt other agricultural industries in Germany, winemakers had a record harvest… predicted to be an increase of 33% since the prior year. Winemakers and wine tasters from the region are already predicting it will be “historic”.

Across Europe, these longer and warmer summers are ripening grapes sooner and more consistently. And it’s changing what varietals are being grown. Germany – most well known for its Rieslings and Gewürztraminer – for the first time have the ability to grow reds like Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah at a quality that demands premium pricing. However, the warm weather is also making it more difficult to grow Germany’s flagship white (Riesling). As the grapes are ripening earlier and more easily, they tend to be too sweet or too alcoholic when harvested.

Then there’s New Zealand – while we heard about the growth of Central Otago yesterday, New Zealand’s biggest region is threatened by climate change. While relatively new to the wine world, Marlborough’s Sauvignon Blanc took off in the 1990s / 2000s because of its unique flavor and acidity, thanks to New Zealand’s long growing season of warm days and cool nights. However, as the climate changes, that may be in jeopardy. As grapes are ripening more quickly and the growing season shortens, it is getting more difficult to maintain New Zealand wine’s signature acidity.

However, New Zealand winemakers are beginning to address this threat head on, experimenting with techniques around water usage, exposure, and yield management to affect the flavor of grapes in the face of a shorter growing season, hoping to maintain as much of its signature flavor profile as possible.

What does this mean on a large scale? Will established regions, well known for specific varietals, begin to adapt the grapes they grow to pursue new opportunities? Or will we see regions pursue scientific intervention to preserve their history as much as possible?

Sources:

NYTimes - ‘Disgusting to Say, but It’s the Truth’: German Winemakers See Boon in Climate Change

NZ Herald - Winemaking in 10 years: How climate change is affecting Marlborough, New Zealand's largest wine region