BARCELONA, SPAIN — THE "post-classic" era of winemaking is dawning, according to experts at the second Climate Change & Wine conference in Barcelona, Spain, at the end of last week. And it's going to be full of nasty surprises.
What might "post-classic" wine be like? Scientists told winemakers and other industry professionals at the gathering to expect natural acidity to drop, colors to fade and alcohol levels to rise. Aromas could vanish. In short, wine may gradually lose the complexity wine lovers appreciate. And as rising levels of carbon dioxide encourage out-of-control vegetative growth, the green, herbaceous flavors consumers deplore may well increase.
With so much potential human misery predicted as a result of climate change, "it's almost frivolous to think about wine in the same context," said Australian viticulture consultant Richard Smart. "Wine, however, is an early warning signal of what is to come," he said. "Wine's past will no longer be relevant [in predicting its future] within 50 years. In only 10 years, the palate of our wines will change."
Attending the conference were 350 people from 36 countries, a five-fold increase from the 70 participants at the first Climate Change & Wine conference held two years ago, also in Barcelona. Former U.S. Vice President and Nobel laureate Al Gore was the closing speaker via satellite teleconference.
The warming global climate, thus far, has been good news for winemakers in some parts of Europe, where recently, year after year of optimal conditions for grape ripening has made the phrase "vintage of the century" an annual marketing slogan in Bordeaux.
But if warming trends continue (an average temperature increase of 2 to 3.5 degrees Fahrenheit by 2100 is predicted), even in those regions, growing conditions will slide from that peak of perfection into what could become an overheated enological disaster, scientists said.
The first Climate Change & Wine conference advanced the argument that the Earth is warming and, in the process, changing the character of wine. Speakers at last week's event (organized, as was the first, by Wine Academy of Spain president Pancho Campo) went further, offering new details about the specific changes that can be expected in wine production and suggesting how the wine industry should respond. The lineup included celebrated international winemakers such as Jacques Lurton, a renowned French winemaker with projects in France, Chile, Argentina and Australia. Joining Lurton were influential German winemaker Ernest Loosen, former Chateau Cos d'Estournel owner Bruno Prats who now produces wine in South Africa and Portugal, and star Spanish vintner Miguel Torres.
Shifting flavor profiles
PRATS and Lurton predicted that, in Bordeaux, Merlot vineyards increasingly will be replanted with Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, Malbec and Cabernet Franc, Bordeaux varieties that do better in warmer weather. The flavor profile of Bordeaux will change with the loss of Merlot, said Lurton, "but these are still the traditional grapes of the region."
Along Germany's Rhine Valley, Loosen said he expects more Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah to be planted. If he hopes to continue making traditional Riesling in Mosel Valley, he'll have to plant new drought-resistant rootstocks that preserve natural acidity. Vineyard classifications in Germany will probably shift. Grand cru vineyards treasured for their ability to produce ripe fruit may be downgraded to mere village status because they will produce over-ripe fruit. In Mosel, cooler east-facing vineyards in the region may be the new sweet spots.
Several speakers suggested that rising alcohol levels will have to be controlled most likely by using methods such as reverse osmosis. To capture natural acids and aromas, harvests will be staggered, with some grapes harvested under-ripe to produce lots that can be blended with fuller-flavored lots from riper grapes. Together, the lots may produce a balanced wine.
Lurton said Europe will need to relax its regulations regarding irrigation. He and Torres advocate irrigation during hot weather, a common practice in American vineyards that is outlawed in many European regions. Torres told the gathering that he is investing several millions of dollars in research to find other ways to mitigate the effects of climate change on Spanish wine.
Research might focus on finding solutions to such problems as thriving populations of new insect pests, increased levels of volatile acidity and brettanomyces (a spoilage yeast), excessive vine vigor and sunburned grapes. Meanwhile, forward-looking wine producers, including Torres, are also investing in land in cooler climate areas.
