Wine mindfulness : climate is changing, the way grapes are grown change, the wine change.
The climate changes we are now facing are not really unwonted as we might think in the history of wine-growing. At the matter of facts wine-growers always had to deal with adaptation to the climate.
Today to front a warmer climate, we choose to plant vines further apart, use rootstocks that are more resistant to drought, make sure that leaves increasingly protect grape bunches from sunlight.
Also the selection of those clones of Sangiovese grape best suited to grow in these warmer climate is our response to the climate change.
In other areas the choice of grapevines might be the answer – we will maybe see a change of the varieties grown in some areas in response to climate change.
In this context, over the centuries, we have also witnessed the phenomenon of delocalization, that is, the movement of viticulture from ancient traditional areas to areas with a more favorable climate profile.
The winegrower has always had this awareness and the consumer should be aware as well.
While the winemaker aims to keep wines as close as possible to the wines of the past despite climate change, the consumer must be aware that the climate is changing therefore wines are changing.
As a consequence of a warmer climate alcohol levels are higher, acidity is more difficult to control, tannins are often be not so soft, even aroma complexity changes. Wine-making technique is a great tool for adapting to this phenomenon, yet…the wine is made in the vineyard!
The wine tells the territory where it was born, the climate the grapes was grown and matured. It is right for the consumers to expect this in the glass.
