Why Our Chardonnay Could Change

Sometimes a small story can convey the big picture.

Climate Change and Wine Production

Enjoying the sun, the heat, and the rain we could associate with France, vineyards are thriving in Great Britain’s Crouch Valley (45 miles east of London). Similar weather had been typical of a wide horizontal band on a map that covered the Champagne region in northern France. It had been ideal for sparkling wine. At the same time, moving north of that band to the south coast of England, the weather was too cool and the growing season too short for viticulture.

Now though, the band on that map has edged northward. As a result, the weather began to embrace the vineyards in England’s Crouch Valley. During the past seven years, at 26, the number of vineyards in the region doubled. First, they began with sparkling wine grapes that needed less sugar, But more recently, they harvested the premium grapes that became a higher quality Chardonnay.

Meanwhile, in Europe, a typical Spanish vineyard in Catalonia is coping with warmer temperatures and less rainfall. Harvesting in mid-August rather than September, their grapes have more sugar, more alcohol, and less acidity. As a result, yield and profits are down. Responding, they are looking for new varietals and moving to a more elevated terroir several hours away.

Our Bottom Line: Factors of Production

As economists, we know that climate change and wine production are really about the factors of production. As climate change affects wine growers’ land, labor, and capital, established vineyards have had to adjust. In addition, they have new competition in (unexpected) places like England.

Returning to where we began, vineyards in England and Spain illustrate a bigger picture where climate change can help and harm agriculture and change our Chardonnay.

My sources and more: Thanks to the BBC’s Climate Change podcast for a good morning walk and a visit to a British vineyard. Then, for the perfect complement, you might want to read this paper and this econlife post. And finally, for the bigger picture, I checked (and recommend) this new research.