Winemakers across Europe face the challenges of climate change

After weeks of scorching heat, winemakers in France are not heading into the harvest season the way they have historically. “Thirty years ago, they started the harvest at the end of September and would sometimes end at the start of November,” said Alicia Dorey, a French lifestyle and wine journalist. “Now it’s beginning in August, so it’s worrying.” Wildfires in southwestern France have already destroyed more than 40,000 hectares in the Gironde department this year. And the increasingly volatile climate conditions are threatening the wine industry, one of France’s most valuable economic sectors. Winemakers are adapting by harvesting early. Elsewhere in Europe, rising global temperatures are helping a burgeoning winemaking industry in countries farther north, including Scandinavian countries. “This is why we find wine in England now and in Bornholm, an island off the southern tip of Denmark, among other places,” said Dorey. Despite wine production appearing in unexpected places, experts say it's too early to expect a revolution in the industry. “We cannot talk about a drastic shift yet,” said Hugo Seilly, senior lecturer at the Burgundy School of Wine & Spirits Business. Some vi...