Australia’s wine-growing ‘sweet spots’ threatened by climate change

Good wine regions have just the right mix of rainfall, temperature and soil to produce the perfect grape for wine - but this could all begin to change as our climate does. A few regions in Australia, such as the Hunter Valley and Margaret River, have the perfect terroir for producing great wines, being situated in climatic ‘sweet spots’, but these sweet spots may be turning sour with the changing climate.

Wine producers in North America, Europe and Australia are reporting that grapes are ripening up to a month early, before they’re the right colour or flavour. Australian winemakers are meeting in Melbourne from 27 to 29 November to discuss the challenges facing the Australian wine industry at the Climate Change Research Strategy for Primary Industries (CCRSPI) Conference.

According to the CCRSPI, the conference will cover a number of topics, including: adapting pruning techniques to encourage vines to mature later; linking local knowledge with the global science of climate change; and studying lower-altitude wineries for an insight into the future of winemaking as global temperatures increase.

For more information on the CCRSPI conference, click here.