Things are hotting up

"The Thames Valley and Hampshire could be too hot for wine grapes; our best Chardonnay and Pinot Noir could be coming from the uplands of Derbyshire and Yorkshire, and refreshing whites could be made on the banks of Loch Ness"

This is how wine writer Oz Clark in his 2020 book English Wine summarises the prospects for wine production in Britain based on projected temperature increases to the year 2080. In short, as the planet heats up the optimum conditions for producing wine are steadily moving northwards.  And if it's predicted that temperatures in 75 years time will make wine production impossible in the south of England it follows that the game will be up well before then for viticulture in countries such as Italy and Spain. It is snippets of information like this that have me thinking about the impact of climate change on wine and becoming more aware of some of the incremental changes that underline the direction of travel.

Have you noticed for example the high alcohol by volume (abv) of wines from Southern Europe? 14.5% or 15% is not untypical for red wines from Puglia at the heel of Italy as well as many reds from the Iberian peninsular.  In contrast, lighter red wines such as a pinot noir from the northern vineyards of France or Germany are likely to be 12-13.5%. Obviously, growers in a particular region plant grape varieties that thrive and produce good wines but climate change is now starting to upset long established traditions.  Last year the authorities in France approved six new grape varieties that could be planted by Bordeaux producers to compensate for rising temperatures impacting on traditional varieties.  Two of the six newly permitted vines, Touriga Nacional and Alvarinho, are traditionally grown much further south in Portugal.

Another indication of global warming is how grape harvests are becoming earlier and earlier each year.  In Provence this year harvesting started 10-15 days earlier than in 2021 and in Bordeaux where traditionally picking started in mid September it can now start in August.  I also saw a report of a record early harvest starting on 16 August this year at an estate in the Rueda region on the dry plains south of Valladolid in Spain.  

In England, unlike the wine regions of France, wine production is not weighed down by centuries old traditions.  As newcomers to the wine making business pioneer growers kickstarting viticulture here in the 1950s and 60s had a blank slate.  There hadn't really been any serious wine production since Roman times so they could plant whatever vines they liked.  Unsurprisingly, they looked to a country with a similar climate, Germany, and made white wines predominantly from their Müller Thurgau, Ortega and Bacchus and considerably fewer reds from Rondo and Regent. But the more recent success story in English wine is the quality of sparkling wines mainly produced in Kent and Sussex by producers such as Gusbourne and Nyetimber using the same traditional bottle-fermentation method as champagne. Almost undoubtedly this development has come about due to climate change. While the underlying geology of South East England is similar to that of the Champagne region the pioneer growers from the middle of the last century would not have been able to ripen the classic champagne grapes - chardonnay, pinot noir and pinot meunier - to the required level to make quality fizz.  A slight but significant rise in average temperatures in the past 25 years has made this a reality and even the famous champagne houses are hedging their bets and buying into the future of English sparkling wine.  Tattinger bought land in a joint venture in Kent and planted the requisite three grape varieties at what has been named Domaine Evremond back in 2017.  Watch out for their first wines which should be released for drinking next year (2023) after 3 years of ageing in bottle.  Although vineyards across England still make respectable wine from the Germanic varieties on current evidence there will be more chardonnay, pinot noir, pinot meunier planted here in the coming years, as well as possibly cabernet franc, gamay, and sauvignon blanc which currently thrive in the Loire Valley.

The following table compares the amount of land given over to wine production in different areas of France in 2008 and 2018.  The final column shows the difference. Note how the three areas shaded green at the foot of the table are the only ones where viticulture is increasing.  Two of them are the most northerly wine growing regions in France.  The majority of the areas where land use for wine is decreasing are the hotter areas in the south. Given the trend here this is surely further evidence that English producers will be major players in the wine world as this century progresses.

As I write, England has enjoyed (perhaps I should say 'experienced') its joint hottest summer since 1884 and there is much hype in the media predicting a bumper harvest for the English wine industry.  Hardly a day goes by without competitive press releases inspiring local tv and newspapers to play their part in spreading this good news story.  Within the past fortnight I have seen similar stories about the prospect of stunning wines from vineyards across the south of England, in Kent, Sussex, Hampshire and Dorset.  Let's hope potential is turned into reality but remember that, in the case of sparkling wines, the products of this year's harvest will not be available for some time to come.  Best to search out the wines from the previous great vintage in 2018.

Finally, while we might be delighted that rising temperature, an obvious manifestation of climate change, seems to be heralding a golden age for English wines it is worth bearing in mind that it's not the only one.  Frost, drought, hailstorms and wildfires are also features of extreme weather that can impact on wine production.  The reality is that the wine industry can never guarantee perfect conditions and will need to constantly adapt and cope with whatever the the climate has in store for it.