How is climate change affecting vineyards? Will growers have to go north and Kamloops, Canada, become the next Napa? Well, it so happens that, for the first time, scientists are documenting a direct effect of climate warming on vineyards. Using decades of records in Australian vineyards, scientists are able to show that early ripening of wine grapes is directly linked to a heating climate and the consequent decline of water content. The records show that, in turn, is causing lower yields. The study, just published in Nature Climate Change, was done by climatologists and viticulturists at University of Melbourne. It concludes that in southern Australia: “. . . grape maturation dates have advanced about eight days per decade. . . impacting wine grape quality.” So, Kamloops, here they come.
Doc Lang
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