AFP, Orange :
When an unprecedented heatwave hit South Australia state, home to the world-renowned Barossa Valley winemaking region, viticulturists fretted about the impact on their grapes.
The crops survived, but the extreme weather last year was a reminder of how climate change can hurt a resurgent Aus$2 billion (US$1.5 billion) export industry boosted by Chinese thirst for Australian premium red wine.
“I’ve been here for 20 years … and we’re seeing more severity in the weather,” winemaker James Sweetapple told AFP at his vineyard in Orange, a picturesque town 250 kilometres (155 miles) northwest of Sydney.
“The wet years are much, much wetter, the dry years are much drier and much hotter.”
With record-breaking hot weather tipped to become the new “normal” in the world’s fourth-largest wine exporter by value, the government and grape-growers are trialling ways to mitigate against the challenges, including pruning later and switching varieties.
Australia is known as a land of drought and floods, and vignerons are accustomed to dealing with a variety of conditions.
But climate change appears to be causing a permanent shift, warming the continent by approximately 1.0 degree Celsius (1.8 Fahrenheit) since 1910 according to government data, intensifying the risk of bushfires and droughts, while altering rainfall patterns.
The rising heat is compressing harvesting seasons, causing grapes to ripen earlier-sometimes during the hotter December-February summer months rather than autumn.
This changes grapes’ sugar and acid levels, leading to lower-quality wines with higher alcohol content.
“The last six weeks of ripening are critical for flavour and colour development and sugar-acid balance, so we don’t want to have too much heat at the end of the season before harvest,” winemaker and former viticulture lecturer Peter Hedberg told AFP.
“Most vineyards in Australia are actually in very hot climates… and unfortunately a lot of regions are ripening grapes at over 35-degree Celsius (95 Fahrenheit) into 40-degree heat which is not good for flavour.”
When an unprecedented heatwave hit South Australia state, home to the world-renowned Barossa Valley winemaking region, viticulturists fretted about the impact on their grapes.
The crops survived, but the extreme weather last year was a reminder of how climate change can hurt a resurgent Aus$2 billion (US$1.5 billion) export industry boosted by Chinese thirst for Australian premium red wine.
“I’ve been here for 20 years … and we’re seeing more severity in the weather,” winemaker James Sweetapple told AFP at his vineyard in Orange, a picturesque town 250 kilometres (155 miles) northwest of Sydney.
“The wet years are much, much wetter, the dry years are much drier and much hotter.”
With record-breaking hot weather tipped to become the new “normal” in the world’s fourth-largest wine exporter by value, the government and grape-growers are trialling ways to mitigate against the challenges, including pruning later and switching varieties.
Australia is known as a land of drought and floods, and vignerons are accustomed to dealing with a variety of conditions.
But climate change appears to be causing a permanent shift, warming the continent by approximately 1.0 degree Celsius (1.8 Fahrenheit) since 1910 according to government data, intensifying the risk of bushfires and droughts, while altering rainfall patterns.
The rising heat is compressing harvesting seasons, causing grapes to ripen earlier-sometimes during the hotter December-February summer months rather than autumn.
This changes grapes’ sugar and acid levels, leading to lower-quality wines with higher alcohol content.
“The last six weeks of ripening are critical for flavour and colour development and sugar-acid balance, so we don’t want to have too much heat at the end of the season before harvest,” winemaker and former viticulture lecturer Peter Hedberg told AFP.
“Most vineyards in Australia are actually in very hot climates… and unfortunately a lot of regions are ripening grapes at over 35-degree Celsius (95 Fahrenheit) into 40-degree heat which is not good for flavour.”
