WESTFORD, MA (WGGB/WSHM) -- Recent increases in dramatic weather events has placed stress on winemakers, introducing new pressure’s they’ve never dealt with before and it could start to impact the way the wine you drink tastes.
As the planet warms, big swings between growing seasons has brought everything from heavy rain, drought, and wildfires to wine-growing regions around the world.
Noel Powell is the winemaker at Aaronap Cellars in Westford. He told Western Mass News that Massachusetts is difficult from a wine making perspective, due to short growing seasons and cold snowy winters.
“The white grapes tend to do the best just because they’ve got the shortest growing season needed. Red grapes tend to need heat and long summers,” Powell said.
There’s differences between the Cape and the Berkshires. Moderate temperatures along the coast allow Vanifera grapes such as chardonnay, pinot noir, and cabernet franc, while traditionally grown in warmer regions to survive.
“Grape breeders have risen to the challenge and they’ve, they’re developing new varietals that grow best in cold regions…Grapes that we just don’t have a lot of experience with, but offer some really fantastic fruit profiles,” Powell added.
Colder temperatures produce bright fruit profiles with higher acidity because the acids have less time to break down over hot summers.
Alternatively, in California, dramatic wildfire outbreaks are resulting in different complications. While the entire state’s grape harvest hasn’t been ruined, rising temperatures are exacerbating threats.
“People are trying to find cooler places to grow the grapes, so they’re moving up the mountain into formerly forested areas and that, you know, brings the grape vines and potential fires into close contact,” Powell explained.
Powell told Western Mass News that winemakers are still learning the impacts, but that flavors can be affected, including new tasting notes of smoke.
“The grapes that tend be affected most are the thinner skinned, um, so like pinot noir, the white grapes…Everything from outright smoke, you know, maybe more hints of mineral or graphite flavors,” Powell said.
The most noticeable response to climate change winemakers have seen in recent years is an uptick in alcohol content. While that might sound like great news initially, it throws off the balance of the wine.
“As things have gotten hotter, grapes respond to heat and sun by producing more sugar and that is directly correlated to how much alcohol can end up in the wine,” Powell added.
It’s led to winemakers picking earlier, utilizing emerging technologies to reduce alcohol content, and new growing techniques to shade grapes and prevent sunburn.
Much like the rest of the world, Europe's climate is changing too. France, one of the world’s top wine producers, is experiencing some challenges of their own.
“Out of Bordeaux and southern France, you’re getting a lot more of that black raspberry, black cherry, the big dark you know kind of flavors and just kind of the heft of the wine. They’re also seeing increases in alcohol,” Powell noted.
The champagne and Chablis regions to the north had a very late frost last year, prompting protective action that was visible from space.
“They ended up having to essentially burn smudge pots, so many smudge pots in the vineyard to create air drafts that you could literally see the fires from space,” Powell explained.
While champagne must be grown in Champagne, France to be labeled as such, French winemakers are buying land in southern England to raise grapes there for sparkling wine.
“As those regions change and then the vineyards may end up shifting elsewhere…you know, you’ll see less champagne, more ‘English sparkling wine’, more American sparkling wine as vineyards and wine makers adapt to what they can grow in their region,” Powell said.
If you’d like to purchase locally grown wines from Aaronap Cellars, online purchases can be shipped within Massachusetts or curbside pickup is available at the winery. Aaronap Wines can also be found at farmer’s markets within the Boston area.
The Link LonkFebruary 26, 2021 at 04:43AM
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Winemakers working to combat climate change's impact on flavor - WESTERNMASSNEWS.com
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