Climate change to alter future grape-growing

Grape-growing is going to change in the future because of global warming. That’s the message being delivered by speakers at the Climate Change and Wine Conference in Barcelona this weekend.

Bordeaux is one place that will have to focus on different grape varieties as the climate gets warmer, according to wine consultant Bronco Prats, who is also the former owner of Chateau Cos D’Estournel in the region. He said that Bordeaux has had some good vintages in the past 10 to 15 years but that as the climate gets warmer there will be a problem with grapes such as Cabernet Sauvignon and particularly Merlot. He believes the new varieties of the region will be Petit Verdot, Carmenere and Malbec, while some areas won’t be able to sustain grape-growing at all any more.

German producer Ernst Loosen, talking about the Mosel, said that during the 1950s, 60s and 70s it was hard to get grapes right and if you got three good vintages in 10 you were happy. The 90s, he said, produced very good vintages but 2003, 2005 and 2006 were almost overripe. As a result, he is buying and replanting vineyards that were abandoned 10 to 15 years ago because they were too high for successful grape-growing in the Mosel. These higher-altitude sites will be used as an acid reserve, he said, because they produce grapes that will add the necessary crispness to wines.

However, Riverland in Australia, is unlikely to have the luxury of being able to alter grape varieties or vineyard locations because, according to viticulturalist Richard Smart, this area will probably become unsustainable as a wine region due to increasing temperatures.