Champagne conditions expected to boost UK wine production as climate heats up further – study
Wine production could boom in Britain as the climate crisis transforms conditions to those similar in famous vineyard regions such as France’s Champagne and Burgundy, and Baden in Germany, a new study projects.
Sparkling wine varieties such as Pinot Noir and Chardonnay will begin to reliably grow in a far greater area of England and Wales as the country heats up, the paper published in peer-reviewed OENO One predicts.
The warm and dry conditions in the bumper 2018 year “have already become and are projected to become more common”, said co-author and University of East Anglia (UEA) Professor Steve Dorling.
Those vintage conditions will repeat themselves in at least 60% of the years between 2021 and 2040, his paper projects.
The 2018 heatwave was made 30 times more likely by the climate crisis, which is also expected to worsen heavy downpours and flooding and push up sea levels, putting thousands of homes at risk.
The wine industry has already grown 400% from 761 to 3,800 hectares between 2004 and 2021, the paper found, driven in part by pollution from human activity that has warmed the planet.
The researchers from UEA, the London School of Economics, Vinescapes Ltd and Weatherquest Ltd designed a computer model to assess how often growing conditions in the UK were likely to resemble the climate recently recorded in Champagne and Burgundy in France, and in Baden in Germany.
The average temperature of Britain’s the growing season has warmed by 1C and as it warms further still, winemakers will be able to grow a broader range of varieties, including Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling and Semillon.
Meanwhile large areas in southeastern and eastern England will become suitable for producing Pinot Noir as a still red – at the moment it is mostly produced as a sparkling wine.
“In certain years, a few areas of the UK may see growing season climates similar to those that contributed to the very best recent vintages of Champagne, as well as support increased potential for Burgundy and Baden-style still red wines,” the study’s lead author Dr Alistair Nesbitt, of vineyard and winery consultancy Vinescapes Ltd said.
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