Climate Change & Frozé? - Pardon the Pun!

Frost candles burn in Chablis vineyards.

by Seema Tikare

While Climate Change is accepted as fact by many, it is still a bit of a mysterious, nebulous idea that floats around the consciousness, disembodied. Yes, we should reduce, reuse, recycle.  Of course, if we have a chance to switch to wind or solar, we should make the effort.  Drive less, waste less, consume smart, use fewer resources.  

But despite all of these (relatively minor) lifestyle changes, how real it is on a day-to-day basis?  

Unfortunately for France’s vineyard owners, climate change just punched them in the stomach.  Right now, we only have early estimates for the levels of damage done to the forthcoming 2021 grape harvest, but for major regions, this is how it is looking:

There is no doubt that this destruction of the grape harvest is directly related to climate change – the spring weather was unseasonably warm, leading the vines to think that warm weather had stabilized.  The buds, which take a year to mature, began sprouting with delicate leaves and the beginnings of a long-gestated beautiful nubs that were destined to be their first born of the year.  Then cruel fate stepped in with temperatures down to 17 degrees Fahrenheit, to freeze these fragile beginnings which in turn shrivel the best fruit the plant could produce this season.  

The farmers are devastated.  It has been declared a national emergency by the French Government and 1 Billion Euros in aid has been released.  And this is not the first time in recent years frost has damaged the grape crops.  The same has happened in three of the past 5 years.  It is now a pattern and we can see for the first time the high end of our market directly affected.  It will hit us wine drinkers in the pocket book.  As scarcity of fine French wine increases, so will prices.  

But scarcity is not the only effect.  European or “old world” wines are prized because they have historically been grown in difficult climates.  The weather could be cool, the sun sometimes reluctant to put in an appearance, rain could soak the vines and increase disease pressure, and the seasons could be short.  When grapes ripened, they generally ripened in an adverse environment, preserving their aromatic intensity and delicate flavors while not becoming fat with sugar.  However, climate change has meant an increase in late frosts, hot temperatures, even heat waves, during the summer and longer growing seasons.  All this means that sometimes sugars collect in the grapes before they reach true “phenolic” ripeness.  The tannins, acids and flavors that create a well-rounded wine are sometime dominated by the sugar, resulting in high alcohol levels like less valued wines.  

There is a reason, for example, that wines grown in the hot, fertile Central Valley of California are sold as bulk wine while the fine wines are grown on the stony, limestone rich, foggy and cool slopes of Monterrey, Sonoma and Napa.  The wines are simply more fragrant, more vibrant, more balanced.  As a consequence of a warming and more unpredictable climate, French vignerons are now planting vines on the northern slopes of their vineyards and seeking more varieties that retain their acidity and flavors in hotter climes.  Higher altitude wines are becoming more popular as they become more reliably drinkable.  And the traditional great wine areas are beginning to worry about how to deal with wines that no longer hover in the ideal 12.5% - 13.5% alcohol range and now are reaching the intoxicating levels of 14% and above.

Climate change is unfortunately concrete in the wine world and therefore, it is more urgent than ever for us to take action.  In the meantime, stock up and Santé!