Hunter Valley could be forced to seek new varieties
October 21, 2009
By Richard Woodard
Climate change could force Australia's Hunter Valley to plant alternative grape varieties to combat rising temperatures, spring frosts and a higher risk of disease, according to a new study.
Grape growers may have to explore new locations for vineyards and change their layouts to counter the risk of more extreme weather events, said the report of the two-year-long Hunter Valley Wine Industry Climate Change Case Study.
The report, commissioned by a consortium of local councils, studied past and current weather patterns, pinpointing a number of potential future risks, including:
The potential for more extreme 'heat spikes', affecting fruit quality and character;
Increased winter temperatures, increasing the risk of pests and diseases;
Higher risk of spring frosts, leading to crop loss and vine damage;
A general increase in temperatures, shortening the growing season and leading to crop losses and changes to fruit quality.
Alternative grape varieties, changes to vine management practices and the careful site selection and design of new vineyards were all measures which could combat these risks, the report said.
And it called on the wine industry to continue to implement current best practices, also educating new and existing grape growers and viticulturists on their importance.
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Scare mongerers use words such as those highlighted below. There is nothing in the 'report' that is more than conjecture and is not worth the cyberspace used to provide the information.
It said:-
· The potential for more extreme 'heat spikes', affecting fruit quality and character;
There has always been potential for this spike, but there is nothing here to substantiate that there WILL be spikes.
· Increased winter temperatures, increasing the risk of pests and diseases;
Vines are dormant and the soil too cold for those nasties to survive Winter temperatures, even if they are 1 or 2 degrees higher.
· Higher risk of spring frosts, leading to crop loss and vine damage;
RISK of frosts varies from year to year and ALWAYS has done.
· A general increase in temperatures, shortening the growing season and leading to crop losses and changes to fruit quality.
The temperatures on this planet have varied for the past millennium, so there is no news here. The growing season started 3 -4 weeks EARLY here in our part of the HUNTER VALLEY, so the rest of the point is lost in bovine deposits. Please, provide some REAL reporting of REAL issues in your wonderful publication. Ian Ferguson, NSW
This is such an interesting issue. I can't speak for the UK, but Australia is already struggling in the US market with re-branding their everyday wines as more premium propositions. I'm unclear as to what will be replanted since it seems that a subtropical environment as described may only be good for nero d'avola, Greek varieties or pineapples, but if producers replant, the question for Hunter Valley will then be, in the face of all the other issues (drought, waning international fervor for Aussie wines, price increases), how will they also make a change in varieties and expect consumers to remain loyal to the region, rather than to the wine types they like? This will need to be resolved. We can't stop the forces of nature, so I guess that means marketers in the Hunter Valley need to get on their toes now to figure out how they'll pitch this change to consumers and remain relevant...and solvent. Elizabeth Schneider, Consultant, Vine 75, US
Is it possible to monger anything other than fear, fish or iron? Toby Bensimon
The contrasting responses of a Hunter Valley grapegrower and a US Consultant are fascinating as much as they are extreme. One hopes that vignerons worldwide (not just the 300 in the Hunter Valley) accept the reality of climate change and, where possible, use it to improve the wines, styles and varieties offered to consumers. For a foreign consultant to use the issue to denigrate the wines of all 5,000 vignerons in the Hunter and 83 other Australian wine regions is amusing as it is ignorant. The diversity of terroir used for grapegrowing and, interestingly, the move to cooler climates has been evident over recent decades - as evidenced by the over 5,000 vineyard locations mapped on www.VineFinders.com.au. Dick Friend, VineFinders
To Elizabeth's point, I'm an ordinary consumer here in the US, not an industry member, and I never buy Australian wine because the only ones that I have tasted that possess good flavor are so expensive I can't afford them. Southern France, Spain, Italy, and South America present wines of good value with good flavor and when I want something really fulfilling I find better values from Bordeaux or California than Australia.
As for climate change, hold onto your hat because when the size of the world wide middle class increases tenfold over the next century the new 'hot properties,' pun intended, will be in Canada and Siberia. Wine grapes may only be grown in the current 'temperate zones' inside air-conditioned greenhouses. Fifteen billion humans will generate a lot of heat. Jay Oliver, Colorado
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