What regions are you heartbroken to see so affected by climate change, and what *new* regions are you excited to see prosper? I have been learning more about Spanish wine. Regions like Ribera del Duero, with such hot and hostile weather, seem like they are surviving right on the edge already. What is the future for them? 10 years from now? Similarly, I am excited to see what comes of 'new' wine regions -like the UK!
WELCOME TO
THE WAY WE WINE
A PLACE FOR PEOPLE TO WINE TOGETHER
Champagne is the first region that comes to mind. To the UK’s benefit but at the same time, warming of the vineyards will alter the way these houses have made wine over the last two hundred years.
Yes champagne is hugely affected by Climate change. I wonder how much longer until the average consumer feels/ is impacted by this. I feel like most casual wine drinkers do not know / grasp the effect climate change is having on wine
@Molly Greene @Naomi Linnell what do you think will change in the champagne region in the next ten or so years?
Honestly I'm fascinated to see where Oregon goes! KP, I know you're familiar with this! But seeing so many traditionally Rhone grapes in Southern Oregon, and now seeing more and more Italian varieties, and now even Saperavi?? It's gonna be fascinating to see what happens to the classic Pinot noirs, chardonnays, Pinot Gris and so on that are what Oregon is known for!
Totally agree! What is beautiful in regards to these changes is new (to that area) varietal experimentation.
When you talk to winemakers/growers, while they’re 100% concerned about what the future will bring for many wine regions, they tend to associate current levels of ripeness/ABV more with viticultural decisions than with the amount of climate change we’re already seeing.
Using Napa as an example, there was a ton of replanting done in the early 90s as a result of phylloxera. This was the first truly “modern” planting in the area with a number of rootstocks and clones available from UC Davis to choose from, the opportunity to add in drip irrigation (only invented by Andy Beckstoffer in the mid-70s,) and a chance to clean viral diseases out of vineyards. While all of the planting decisions mattered, the last bit is really the key here. Red blotch in Cab Sauv can be the difference between 21-23 brix and 25-27. Combine that with the late picking that became popular post-1997, and you can see where skyrocketing ABV might not be a result of warmer climates.
One other note - above a certain temp (which varies depending on a lot of factors, but we’re usually talking above 100F) grapes stop accumulating sugar. The vines “shut down” as a protective measure.
@Jared Krauss would you say that this is for Napa Valley as a whole or moreso for specific districts? I’d love for @Kelli White to weigh in on this topic!
@Megan Bauer My specific/detailed knowledge centers around Oakville and Stag’s Leap, but the whole valley saw a ton of replanting in that era, and anywhere you go from diseased vines to healthy ones you’ll see a spike in brix.
If you drive by Kronos Vineyard in the fall and see all the beautiful autumn colors it shows, that’s a dead give away that it‘s diseased. No wonder Cathy keeps making 13% ABV wines when her neighbors are pushing 15. I had a Cab Franc from Ashes & Diamonds a few months ago that was something like 11.5% - clearly they’ve made farming decisions to limit ABV/ripeness.
Something else I forgot to mention - yeast. Commercial yeast is becoming more and more efficient at converting sugar to alcohol. We have two different chardonnay bottlings, one that uses commercial and another that uses native yeast. picked at around the same Brix. They finished at 14.5 and 13.5 ABV respectively.
If you didn’t know already Australian Wine Legends is doing great work providing information and sharing resources like this climate atlas: https://www.wineaustralia.com/growing-making/environment-and-climate/climate-atlas