Guest essay by Eric Worrall
Bordeaux winegrowers are experimenting with new grape varieties to prepare for a time when Merlot grapes will no longer produce the right flavour due to climate change.
‘The Taste of Bordeaux Is Going to Change.’ Under Threat From Climate Change and Coronavirus, French Winemakers Try Experimenting
BY MÉLISSA GODIN MAY 22, 2020 6:36 AM EDT
In the hills outside of Bordeaux, where lines of vineyards create geometric patterns across the landscape, winemakers have been carefully growing and harvesting a dark blue grape variety for centuries. Merlot, with its soft, velvety plum flavor, is one of the world’s most popular red wines.
But Merlot as we know it is on the verge of extinction. Climate change—which has increased average global temperatures, along with the frequency and severity of droughts, heat waves and other erratic weather patterns—is changing the flavor of French wines. Warmer temperatures cause grapes to ripen faster, resulting in more sugar in the grape. That ultimately affects the alcohol content, acidity level and the color of wine. While scientists do not know how long current varieties of Merlot will be able to last under changing conditions, they have said that Merlot will be the first victim of climate changeamongst grape varieties in the region.
But in Bordeaux, the wine capital of the world, experimental laboratories have emerged, dedicated to finding new flavors of wine that are adaptable to the changing climate. French winemakers are experimenting with vines from other parts of the world, from Italian Sangiovese to Greek Assyrtiko, that can withstand higher temperatures, to see if they can survive in Bordeaux. Their hope is to find a new flavor that can replace the region’s iconic Merlot, which makes up 60% of vineyards in Bordeaux.
“Some wines will not be able to remain,” says Jean-Marc Touzard, the director of l’INRA, a French public research institute focussed on agriculture. “Merlot is struggling in the face of climate change.”
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COVID-19 has put further pressure on winemakers. Since the outbreak hit France, wine sales have rapidly declined, wine fairs and festivals have been canceled and exports have been severely affected. In the first two weeks of lockdown, some winemakers have reported a 50-70% loss in revenue. “It’s a catastrophe for our industry,” says Masse, adding that the economic ramifications of COVID-19 will make it difficult for winemakers to plan for climate change. “It affects people’s budget to experiment.” Agricultural unions in France have already estimated a shortfall of roughly 200,000 seasonal migrant workers because of COVID-19, further hampering production.
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Read more: https://time.com/5777459/france-wine-climate-change/
How could we all have gotten it so wrong for all this time? It is now clear we have to shut down Western Civilisation so rich people can continue to enjoy the French wine flavours they are accustomed to. Buying wine made from Merlot grapes grown a few hundred miles North of current growing regions just wouldn’t be the same.
A lot of those Bordeaux vineyards are owned by the Chinese.
Now we have, Chateau Tibetan Antelope, Chateau Imperial Rabbit, Chateau Golden Rabbit, Chateau Great Antelope.
….I kid you not.
Confused beat-up. Looking for excuses.
Here in Argentina the award-winning wine production extends north and south for 1,200 km (800 miles), from southern Salta Province to northern Neuquen Province. I live in the middle of this range, in Mendoza, where the best wines are produced. Wine grape growers look at growing season like all other agricultural industries, and harvest the particular grapes when they are at the correct sugar level, so hotter climate-harvest a little earlier. Stay sane and safe (red wine has resviratrol which, imagine my luck, turns out to be good for you).
LOL! The taste of wine produced by the same vineyards changes from year to year already! That is why they have vintages!
Ex-California wino raised within sight of Paul Masson’s first factory, but drinking Ed Gillick’s finest red ~$1 a gallon. Done chasing ever more refined tasting wine. My house wine is Chilean Pinot Noir 3L box by Corbett Canyon. My gift wine is a Pinot Noir Central Coast by 10-Span.
I wondered about being too familiar with by box wine until CoViD-19 lockdown made me drink my gifted wine supply, “Oh, these are too nice to drink, I’ll save them for guests.”. What utter crap were most of them.
California (~7% world) still produces more wine than either Chile or Argentina, but less than both together (~9%).
Plain b*s*it!
The orginal paper ignores the History of French wine production, namelly:
1. The crisis that was growing by the 1960s and 1970s due to the irregular quality of the wines of each region (due to lack of application of good agronomic technology in viticulture) which was intensified by the growing income of the middle class, which became more demanding of the stability and reliability of the products they consume (thus the origin of the VQPRD classification).
2. The changes toward homogenization of the technology of production brought about by the European “rules” in the decade 1970, which were deployed roughly unil 1990.
3. The changes (again towards a standardization of the products) brought about by French legislator (“réforme de filière viti-vinicole française”) in 2004.
Pleas mark these key dates on the graphs of the original paper and you will undestand what was the “climate change” about.
Meanwhile, in the real world.
https://blog.vinfolio.com/2019/07/25/your-guide-to-the-best-vintages-of-petrus/
Wine is an “essential item” for humans to survive.
Merlot is more commonly grown north of Bordeaux and is quite obnoxious on its own, the Cabernet Sauvignon grape is more heavily used in the Bordeaux region and produces the ‘gran cru’ of Mouton Rothschild, Chateau Latour etc.
In fact, Chateau Latour is 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Merlot. Merlot is used just as a filler and balance to the flavours. With all the grape varieties some harvests are better than others and the cooperative will produce mixes according to the crop.
The Merlot based St Emilions are cheaper wines, the best wines are Cabernet Sauvignon based.
I think Petrus, which has a lot of merlot, holds its own against other first growths, as does Chateau Cheval Blanc, a St Emillion that has a lot of Cabernet Franc.
Climate Change is a Threat to Expensive French Wine
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So now we have 2 things not affected by climate change. Cockroaches and cheap French wine.
The biggest threat to expensive French wines is forgery,
In some cases for a particular wine for a particular year, more cases are being offered than were actually produced.
In a particular case , a wine was being auctioned in a bottle size that was no produced for that year.
One of the Koch brothers, who has a huge cellar, was ripped off by this.
A Netflix documentary called “Sour Grapes” chronicles the wine counterfeiting scam.
The real threat to French wines (and more seriously French Cognac) is the eventual Islamic takeover because of open borders. Muslims will burn the vineyards. Real warming.
Cheaper American wine actually tastes better anyway. (<- Not sarcasm)
Think of all the CO2 saved by buying local wine rather than shipping French wine all the way to America. We should add a carbon tax to French wines. (<- Sarcasm)
As I have aged and consumed less beef, my taste in red wine has transitioned from Cabernet to Pinot Noir. Though the gold standard for these beautiful wines is Burgundy, California and Oregon both produce wonderful versions of this grape and high quality can be found at a reasonable price. My favorites come from Sonoma County and the central coast of CA. I find most merlot uninteresting, though there are exceptions such as Petrus.
Wine grapes grow on the west coast of North America from the Baja in Mexico through the state of Washington and on into British Columbia. Some of my so called environmentalists friends warn me that soon it will be to warm for wine grapes.
Otherwise intelligent people often believe some of the most ridiculous things.
Just to add to what Tom K wrote:
Washington State’s wine grapes are interior relative to the Cascade Mountains; roughly 200 miles from the actual coast. Eastern Washington residents often say “going to the coast” when they mean to the Seattle area.
High temperatures are often handled with misting – a fine spray of water not intended for irrigation. Also done in California.
France generally does not approve of irrigation as commonly practiced elsewhere. I don’t know if they “mist”, but it is easy to do.
Winter cold is prepared for by withholding late summer irrigation so the vines “harden off.”
The problem with French wine is not the climate. It is the hidebound French wine makers who simply will not adopt scientifically validated methods of growing grapes and making wine.
–https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judgment_of_Paris_(wine)
“The Paris Wine Tasting of 1976, also known as the Judgment of Paris, was a wine competition organized in Paris on 24 May 1976 by Steven Spurrier, a British wine merchant, in which French judges carried out two blind tasting comparisons: one of top-quality Chardonnays and another of red wines (Bordeaux wines from France and Cabernet Sauvignon wines from California). A Californian wine rated best in each category, which caused surprise as France was generally regarded as being the foremost producer of the world’s best wines. Spurrier sold only French wine and believed that the California wines would not win. The event’s informal name “Judgment of Paris” is an allusion to the ancient Greek myth.”
“30th anniversary
“A 30th anniversary re-tasting on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean was organized by Steven Spurrier in 2006. As The Times reported “Despite the French tasters, many of whom had taken part in the original tasting, ‘expecting the downfall’ of the American vineyards, they had to admit that the harmony of the Californian cabernets had beaten them again. … The results showed that additional panels of experts again preferred the California wines over their French competitors.”
Wine making is not a science. It is an art.
As long as Canadian plonk improves, who cares? I like wally mart’s 2/750ml bottles of Oakleaf for $5 in Florida.
From the article: “But Merlot as we know it is on the verge of extinction. Climate change—which has increased average global temperatures, along with the frequency and severity of droughts, heat waves and other erratic weather patterns—is changing the flavor of French wines.”
Well, average global temperatures have increased very little (tenths of a degree), and there is no evidence for increased fequency or severity of droughts, heat waves, and other erratic weather patterns, so has the taste of Merlot really changed, or is that just another figment of the imagination, like human-caused climate change?
Framing the question as they do helps get grant money.
The ‘plus’ is they get to visit and taste some very fine wine.
What’s not to like?
Late-ripening Petit Verdot might make a comeback in its native Bordeaux, if indeed the region is to enjoy more warming.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petit_Verdot
Australia for reds, New Zealand for whites. End of story!
Brisbane Australia is having its coldest temps since 1922, … https://www.weatherzone.com.au/news/brisbane-shivers-through-coldest-may-day-in-almost-a-century/531524
Now THAT’S what I call ‘runaway’ temperatures – go on, run away, off with ya now, goodbye! Brrr…
Two points re your ‘weatherzombie’ link, G Minor: on their homepage, it has the coldest place for Thur 21 May as Frederick Rf (reef?) in Queensland on -17.0°C. Yes, that’s minus 17 degrees! In the Coral Sea no less. Hmmm…
Plus there’s a link to an article today about a doctor/lecturer in the Northern Territory, Simon Quilty, claiming climate-related deaths are going unrecorded. Apparently, if you wander out into the desert unprepared, sumpthink (sic) called ‘climate change’ is gonna getcha! I’m guessing doctors aren’t taught much about history, nor outback explorers, when they’re learning how to distinguish between a stethoscope and a microscope.
There’s a French winemaker who grows wine on a tropical atoll.
Vin de Tahiti
He gets two vintages per year! I think that shows how silly this concern is.
Many years are too cold and they have to add sugar.
Yawn! So it’s clear that grapes only appeared after WWI and have never had to deal with the always changing climate of earth. Really you can’t fix stupid, or corrupt.