In November 2019, a group of 11,000 scientists warned of increasingly destructive effects of climate change and introduced the term “climate crisis” due to the necessity for urgent action. Since then, it has become one of the dominant political discourses and a frequent topic in the media and everyday life. While most of us are aware of its negative implications for the environment and human health, it’s difficult to imagine that it can also affect the small things that bring joy to our lives, such as wine.
Greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere absorb heat and thus protect our planet from extreme cold. Over the past fifty years, their emissions have increased dramatically by 90%, which means that heat absorption is also increasing, leading to stronger warming of the Earth’s surface. At first glance, this may seem harmless because a degree or two warmer doesn’t appear to be an overly dire scenario, especially in southern Croatia where summers are already hot and dry.
However, this increase in temperature has a devastating impact on multiple levels, with agriculture and viticulture being among the first to suffer.
According to the European Environment Agency, in recent years, Europe, especially its southern part, has experienced a significant increase in drought periods. Winemakers around the world claim that the consequences of the climate crisis are noticeable in changes in soil composition, vine root systems, and overall crop yields. For instance, France, the second-largest wine-producing country in the world, recorded its smallest harvest since 1957 last year, which was a major blow to its economy, considering it’s among the leading wine exporters globally.
But France is not the only one affected by such problems. Numerous wineries around the world are facing issues brought by forest fires, heavy rains, storms accompanied by hail, and droughts.
As the land becomes drier, larger amounts of water are needed to cool it down, which naturally creates significant costs for producers. As a result, many wineries have turned to producing raisins, seeing it as a more profitable and long-term alternative. Additionally, many winemakers have started relocating their facilities and vineyards to regions with more rainfall or near rivers or lakes.
Since grape skins are much thinner than bark in other fruit trees, they become more susceptible to various fungal diseases and rot due to extreme heat. What’s crucial in viticulture is that climate dictates the taste of wine. As grapes ripen faster over the years, they don’t have time to develop their full aroma, leading to a decline in wine quality.
What also poses a significant challenge for winemakers worldwide is the unpredictability of weather conditions. The dry and rainy periods themselves aren’t as much of a problem as their rapid and dramatic changes, which greatly disrupt crops.
All of the above has led winemakers to take significant measures and adapt to the new conditions in order to survive. Although this is not yet the case in Europe, where traditional production still dominates, in America, there has been experimentation with hybrid varieties in recent years that can withstand more extreme climatic conditions while still retaining desired aromas.
However contradictory and illogical it may sound at first, climate change also has a kind of positive impact on grapevine cultivation.
Generally speaking, the fruit development phases are shifted by about three weeks, meaning that buds start budding earlier and thus fruits ripen earlier. This ripening phase now occurs in significantly warmer weather conditions, which increases sugar levels and reduces acidity, ultimately achieving a more pleasant wine taste.
A smaller amount of water can also have a positive impact on the quality of wine in red varieties because the vine grows in less quantity, exposing the fruit more to the sun. Although the fruit is physically smaller in size, it has a higher skin ratio, and it’s the skin that synthesizes most anthocyanin and phenol, which improves the overall quality of the wine. Of course, we need to consider that this is the case only if there are no extreme drought periods because then sugar accumulates less in the fruit, and overall yields are low.
Despite all the hardships faced by winemakers, they still have certain methods at their disposal to mitigate the negative impact of climate.
Some of them are related to pruning, the choice of planting material, the position of the vineyard, and its altitude, innovative irrigation mechanisms, but also the fact that the producers themselves participate in the chain of generating negative environmental impact. Besides transportation as a standard source of pollution, there is also the packaging in which the wine is packaged. Some companies are turning to more environmentally friendly materials suitable for reuse, such as cardboard packaging or bottles made of lighter glass. Many people, when choosing wine, think that the weight of the bottle is related to the quality of what’s inside, but we’ll have to disappoint you, that’s not always the case.
The fact is that the challenges posed by climate change to winemakers are demanding and inevitable, and they face the difficult choice between adapting to new conditions or giving up production. Although changes are becoming more frequent, making it difficult to keep up with new trends in production, there are still certain effective ways to preserve wine quality. To contribute to reducing negative consequences, part of the responsibility lies with winemakers who have the choice to turn to green and sustainable methods of production, distribution, and sales.