Can British wine grapes resolve a global warming question?

enterstageright.com ^ | December 11, 2006 | Dennis T. Avery

[lepton]

"Bob -- Look at that Martha, their wearing Tee shirts!
Martha -- So?
Bob -- It's 12 degrees outside. I spent two freakin hours shovlin so you get get your freakin gum drops for that damned cake and those Yahoo's are wearin freakin shorts!!
Martha -- Your point?
Bob -- We're movin......... This time I mean it!........ we're movin to California. "

That is precisely how Pasadena was founded...a mass migration from Indiana folk who were tired of the cold weather.

[lepton]

The failures of the British to develop a true wine industry is due to many reasons, climate being low on that list. Such other factors as:

** Easy access to superior wine from Bordeaux.

Actually, in the 13th century the evidence is to the contrary - the French winemakers were complaining about their markets being flooded by imported British wines.

[absolootezer0]

6. Real men don't need SUVs. Drive happily anyway.

the suspension in my SUV makes for a much smoother than any truck i've ever driven. That means the the wine won't bruise er.. i mean the keg won't get shaken up too badly in transport.

[Michael.SF.]

Actually, in the 13th century the evidence is to the contrary -

I was thinking of later years, 17th and 18th century's when the wines of France were dominant in England, along with the Ports.

England did have a moderately strong wine economy, as you state, but it died out for many reasons. My point was contrary to this article, weather was not a primary factor.

[SunkenCiv]

Note: this topic was posted December 11, 2006. Thanks quantim.

[lepton]

“Easy access to superior wine from Bordeaux.”

Except that during the MWP, the complaint was that the British wines were substantially cutting into the French market...even in France.

[lepton]

Sorry. Resurrected thread.

[BenLurkin]

http://www.johnspeedie.com/healy/heyho.wav

[Michael.SF.]

Wow, this is a blast from the past!!

;)

Point of interest: Wine Author Hugh Johnson, has a book: "World Atlas of Wine"

I have a copy from 1975 and also an updated version from 2010 (I think, I am not at home so cannot confirm).

The book is an excellent wine reference book, one I highly recommend. In the opening section he has a map of Europe with the 'Noble wine' regions listed:

Bordeaux, Burgundy, Rhone and others. It also lists very specific section within those regions, such as in Burgundy, he references 'Mer Sault', 'Mont Rachet' and others.

The spellings are old, but the names are recognizable. The list is, if I recall correctly from the Roman era.Even then, they knew which lands produced the best wines.

If you are not familiar with the book, I think you will find it of interest.

[Little Ray]

Those Romans and their SUVs...

[colorado tanker]

It is generally true that the regions of Europe too cold to grow good wine grapes became beer and spirits drinkers and the regions capable of producing good wine became wine drinkers. Of course, there are exceptions to the rule, such as Germany's excellent wine region.

England seems to go back and forth, although pubs are still dominant over wine bars. I'm not surprised wine-making prospered in this relative warm cycle.