The “New Normal” in Wine
Climate change might not be anything new, but it’s impacting our food system in new ways every day. Global warming has resulted in generally hotter and dryer seasons, with more erratic and severe weather events scattered throughout them. These changing conditions have left farmers and food systems workers with ever-changing conditions that they’re forced to rapidly respond to and without the stability, they need for reliable agricultural production
Thanks to some good friends and their colleagues who work in winemaking, I’ve been able to drop in on many conversations and catch off-hand comments about “the new normal” in winemaking. Wine is a huge industry that often serves as a driver of local economic development in specific areas. While wine is obviously not a sustenance food, wine is a culturally important product, and winemakers are dealing with increasingly normalized adversities. Be it changes in the growing season, unexpected hiccups during harvest, issues with drought, or even the impact of nearby wildfires on the flavor of grapes, growers all over the world are seeing dramatic changes to conditions they’ve been able to rely on for centuries. I spoke with my friend, Richard, who works at a winery in central California, to get a better idea of how these changes are affecting growers, producers, and ultimately, the wine on our tables.
Temperature
As you probably know, global average temperatures have been steadily rising for decades. For many regions, this has meant record-breaking temperatures, and for many wine regions, growing seasons that are, on average, warmer than they’ve ever been. Why does this matter? Warmer growing seasons mean that grapes will ripen too quickly, which in turn, doesn’t give them enough time to develop a variety of characteristics like tannins, color, sugar, and acidity. This heat is often accompanied by intense direct sun exposure, which can result in dull and “flabby” wines, and at its extreme can burn and damage the grapes and vines themselves.
That said, this warmth hasn’t been bad news for producers across the board. For example, winemakers who have the resources and experience to act quickly at the right time have been able to harvest grapes and produce wines during these warmer seasons that are fuller, more elegant, more flavorful, and higher in alcohol (characteristics many desire). This holds true for some cooler regions that have enjoyed a little extra heat throughout the season.
Ultimately, the impact this heat has had on producers depends on a variety of factors, but many smaller-scale producers from places like Spain, Australia, and California that have been unable to adapt to these changing conditions have opted instead to migrate toward cooler regions. Furthermore, while places like Oregon or Washington have begun to explore the viability of new grape options in their warming regions, they have also felt the pressure of large-scale wineries moving into town and buying up land and grapes faster than smaller producers can keep up with.
Drought
As climate change has continued, drought has plagued warmer, drier regions with record-breaking severity. While grapevines can often be more tolerant to water deficiencies than other plants, most vines have their limit. In the absence of supplemental water during dry periods (which can come at a great expense to producers), vines can struggle with basic photosynthesis, thus inhibiting their ability to ripen fruit and protect themselves in the winter months. When compounded with extreme heat, this drought can not only overstress the vines but those that care for them too. While a certain amount of water stress is good for the development and strengthening of vines, too much can damage them irreparably and can require labor and resource inputs from producers that can place serious strain on their business.
Fire
You might think that vineyards near areas prone to wildfire might be most fearful of the fire itself, but a surprising new enemy has emerged: smoke taint. The news has been awash with stories of record-breaking wildfires around the world, and even still, it can be difficult to wrap your head around just how massive and frequent these events are. In California, 12.7 million acres have burned over the past 10 years, doubling the amount that burned the decade prior. As a result, winemakers have had to deal with the resulting smoke more and more often. What happens when grapes are exposed to smoke? Unfortunately, the smoke doesn’t just pass through vines. Instead, the smoke actually permeates through the skins of the grapes and binds to the sugars within. This isn’t particularly impactful while the grapes are still fresh, but during fermentation, the impact becomes incredibly apparent, resulting in, unsurprisingly, smoky, burnt, ashy flavors. To make matters worse, there isn’t always a lot producers can do about this. If smoke events are minor, vineyards are small, or producers have a lot of expendable resources, measures can be taken, but by and large, this is an issue that can really damage vintages across the board leading to huge amounts of waste, even outside of burn areas.
Rising Sea Levels
Global warming has meant the gradual melting of polar ice caps, which has meant a gradual rise in global sea levels. While the impacts of this have not yet been felt broadly, salinization of groundwater in coastal wine regions is a growing issue that often requires measures as drastic as relocation.
What does this all mean for winemakers and wine drinkers?
These changing conditions have forced many winemakers and growers to adapt fast and often shell out large quantities of resources to stay afloat and produce a product they can be proud of. Unsurprisingly, this has been easier for some than others. For large-scale wineries that produce huge volumes of wine and have deep pockets, things like supplemental irrigation, last-minute harvesting, finding new vineyards to source their grapes from, or even relocating production altogether might not be infeasible, but for smaller producers, it can often push them toward closing their doors.
In talking with Richard, I found that what most worried him was not the ability of winemakers and growers to adapt to these changes, but the ability of small-scale producers to weather the storm. As I mentioned, a lot of the nimbleness required to keep up nowadays comes at a significant financial cost. In the long term, this can not only reduce the number of small-scale growers but, as Richard put it, “dampen the revolutionary spirit of winemaking.” When costs become prohibitive, talented, creative, innovative winemakers are forced to think inside the box and turn to large-scale growers for work instead of running vibrant, forward-thinking wineries of their own. So much of supporting a healthy, adaptive, delicious food system revolves around supporting small, local producers, and nowhere is that more apparent than in the world of wine in the face of climate change.