Global warming has begun to change the conditions for a fine wine harvest. The grapes are blooming earlier in Burgundy. The vintners of Vaud in Switzerland have a new harvest timetable. And the conditions for fine claret have altered in
Global warming has begun to change the conditions for a fine wine harvest. The grapes are blooming earlier in Burgundy. The vintners of Vaud in Switzerland have a new harvest timetable. And the conditions for fine claret have altered in Bordeaux.
Two US scientists have analysed 400 years of harvest data from France and Switzerland to confirm that, while climate change has not yet created problems for wine-lovers, it has certainly altered the expectations of a harvest.
Whereas growers could once exult in wetter-than-usual springs and a dry summer to bring their grapes to the highest quality, now they don’t need a late drought. Higher temperatures mean they can harvest earlier, even if the seasons have been moister.
“Harvest dates are getting much earlier, and all the evidence points to it being linked to climate change,” said Elizabeth Wolkovich, a biologist at Harvard University.