Climate change hits wine lovers’ tastes
Say goodbye to merlot and chardonnay and hello to grenache and monastrell.
Climate change means that wine drinkers will need to embrace lesser-known grape varieties that can cope with a hotter, drier future, experts say.
Global warming has already made wine more alcoholic and sweeter, with vineyard harvests happening up to three weeks earlier than 40 years ago.
But the droughts and heatwaves wrought by global warming could render 70% of winemaking regions unsuitable if temperatures rise by more than 2C globally. The world is on track for almost 3C.
About 90% of vineyards in coastal and low-lying areas of Spain, Italy, Greece and southern California could become unsuitable for growing, according to the research by a French and Italian team.
However, adaptations to what grapes are grown and how they are cultivated could keep wine flowing. New growing regions could also open up, with Britain’s flourishing industry expected to expand.
“There’s definitely room for adaptation,” said Cornelis van Leeuwen of the viticulture college Bordeaux Sciences Agro.
“But the market needs to accept drinking other varieties than they’re used to. Most of the international varieties, like sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, merlot, they’re really not adapted to a warmer, drier climate.”
At present, more than half of vineyards are planted with 12 varieties of grape, yet there are thousands more available.
Wine is naturally adapted to warm and dry climates, because it originated in the Mediterranean region. The most popular varieties of grape are largely reliant on irrigation. That will pose an increasing challenge as climate change makes water scarcer and as water is prioritised for drinking and growing food crops.
Chenin blanc was one drought-resistant white, while mourvedre was an example of a red variety adapted to a hotter future, Van Leeuwen said.
Changing how winemakers work could help, too, such as turning to goblet vine training, which requires much less rainfall or irrigation than the trained rows typical of many vineyards.
The study, published in the journal Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, pulled together regional studies on the climate’s effect on wine grape growing to produce a global picture.
It says that if temperatures are held to 2C – the world has already warmed by about 1.1C – about a quarter of today’s winemaking regions could benefit. Another quarter would maintain their suitability. Beyond 2C, 70% of today’s vineyards could become unsuitable.
Britain is expected to become more suitable for wine grape growing, which has already taken off in counties including Sussex and Kent. The amount of land covered by vineyards in the United Kingdom expanded fivefold between 2004 and 2021.