Click to be +/- on this low volume wine ping list.Global warming oenology news ping.
Posted on 08/20/2006 6:19:44 PM PDT by quantim
GRAPE growers have been warned that global warming will push the best winegrowing regions south to Tasmania and New Zealand, threatening Australia's best-loved wine regions.
West Australian winemaker Peter Pratten, who has 200ha of vines in the south of the state, intends to act now to ensure the quality of his vineyards. "Global warming is very serious -- I think it is upon us," Dr Pratten said.
"If we stay where we are we will have to think about warmer-climate varieties ... or else we will have to start thinking about where in Australia can we grow the cool-climate wines."
As chief executive of Capel Vale wines, Dr Pratten leads one of the largest family-owned vineyards and wineries in the state.
Capel Vale grows vines in some of the most sought-after cool-climate regions in Western Australia, including Margaret River, 250km south of Perth, and Pemberton, in the state's southwest.
Dr Pratten was responding to advice from wine industry law firm Finlaysons, which has opened a global warming arm. It advises winemakers on strategic decisions in the face of mounting evidence that the planet will get markedly hotter in the next century.
Finlaysons partner Will Taylor said winemakers could expect shorter harvest times, less water and different vine diseases.
But Mr Taylor said the regions with the most to lose were the high-quality areas.
"The bottom line will be that regions like Barossa Valley, Margaret River, Hunter Valley and Yarra Valley won't be able to grow the grapes they are famous for, if their regional temperatures go up, as predicted by the world's leading scientists," he said. He pointed to two recent studies, by the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the CSIRO, predicting significant temperature rises in the coming decades.
For example, CSIRO predicted the average temperature in Western Australia's southwest would rise 5.2C by 2070.
But while the family wineries had got the message, Mr Taylor questioned whether the big players in the industry, the listed wineries, were taking global warming seriously.
"The big companies tend to have a short-term outlook while the smaller guys, who are planning to pass the vineyard on to the next generation, are very interested," said Mr Taylor.
For Dr Pratten, who was a medical doctor and radiologist before switching to winemaking in 1974, the science is convincing: "I am more of a scientist than most wine people. In 10 years' time our vineyards may be threatened by rising sea levels.
"The problem is finding the very cool areas that can produce the really top quality cool-climate wines," he said.
Just one more Chicken Little doomsday global warming nuttiness scenario.
Global Warming ruins common sense
200ha - does "ha" stand for hectacre, or something else?
Click to be +/- on this low volume wine ping list.Global warming oenology news ping.
Yes, ha is the abbreviation for hectare(s).
Thanks
Yes, that's the real gem from the article, thought I'd save it for someone on the hunt, good catch.
You want a cool climate, grow some late harvest Riesling in Germany or Austria.
Just a thought.....if global warming were a real threat, would wine really be our first concern?
We are suffering what is known as a "glut".
I didn't think you could ever get too much grog. Apparently, I was wrong!
What a load of BS!!!
I hope the Aussie wine growers don't move to Antarctica before I get 'down under' to try them all!
When might that be happenin', Granny?
I know it's good to let a wine breathe but the one I've opened for you is developing lungs!
It's 'hectare'
Since his land will be underwater in 10 years, he should probably consider selling it to me at a vastly reduced price.
Those who "disagree" with "global warming" have an opportunity to put their money where their mouthse are and buy these vinyards. If there's no global warming, they will do well and the guys trying to grow grapes in the cold will go broke. Good business opportunity, perhaps.
It's Bushes Fault LOL
This makes me think I should buy up some land in Greenland and start selling it off to fools like this guy.
I'm a working it Aussie Dasher, trust me! I've only got to finish raising the kids and convincing my hubby that a trip Down Under would set me up for life!
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