Climate crisis will profoundly change wine production – 03/27/2024 – Environment

Vineyards in the Andes and Argentine pampas? According to a French study published this Tuesday (26), climate change will result in a profound change in wine geography around the world.

“Climate change is altering the geography of wine, and there will be winners and losers,” summarizes Cornelis van Leeuwen, professor of viticulture at a French agricultural engineering school, Bordeaux Sciences Agro.

Heat and drought will increase and, with them, diseases and pests in vines, according to the study published in the scientific journal Nature Reviews Earth & Environment.

Up to 90% of traditional wine regions in coastal and inland areas of Spain, Italy and Greece may be threatened with extinction.

At the same time, areas where grape cultivation is currently scarce or non-existent, such as in the south of England, the pampas or higher regions of the Andes, could benefit.

Depending on their specific level of warming, these traditional regions, from La Rioja in Spain to Bordeaux in France, could lose 49% to 70% of their harvests.

“You can make wine almost anywhere [inclusive em climas tropicais]but we focus on producing quality wines, with economically viable yields”, explains Van Leeuwen.

On the other hand, 11% to 25% of regions where vines are already established could see improvements in their production, and new regions could emerge at higher latitudes and altitudes.

“Given the extent of irrigation already adopted in drier wine regions such as Mendoza [na Argentina]precipitation projections over traditional South American vineyards do not indicate substantial changes in their suitability”, indicates the report.

“Therefore, future suitability in these regions will depend mainly on the increase in temperature, the availability of groundwater and surface water and the frequency of extreme events”, he adds.

The study states that, “for a limited level of warming, the South American Pacific sector is expected to experience a low risk of loss of suitability, but this risk increases for Atlantic regions such as Brazil and Uruguay.”

“Cool-climate wine regions, such as the pampas region, may improve under these conditions. In the event of more severe warming, the resilience of northern Argentina’s wine regions may require a shift from the lowlands to the higher slopes of the Andes , while the Atlantic sector will offer few opportunities for winemaking”, say experts.

“Expansion into newly adapted areas could involve a movement south toward Argentine Patagonia or potentially an exploration of the high altitudes of the Ecuadorian and Colombian Andes.”

Irrigation

A limited level of warming would be one below 2°C on the global average — the same considered as a limit in the Paris Agreement, which aims, ideally, at up to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.

This increase in the planet’s average temperature would also allow the survival of most of the current producing regions in Europe, where the majority of wine is produced.

At a level above 2°C, California would also be greatly harmed.

“We warn against implementing irrigation: it is a misguided adaptation,” says Van Leeuwen.

“Irrigated vineyards are more vulnerable to drought if there is a lack of water”, and water “is a limited resource and it is unwise to allocate it to the vine, which can adapt very well to rainfed cultivation”, he emphasizes.