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HOTTER CLIMATE COOLER WINES
By: Ed Wilson
All the negative talk about global warming but now there is some good news being published in the mass media about how climate change in upward temperatures could bring more and better quality wines for New Zealand.
New Zealand's whites such as sauvignon blanc and reds like pinot noir now popular from London to Los Angeles. But frosts and biting winds from Antarctica make it hard to cultivate wine-worthy grapes, but that may change.
Higher temperatures due to global warming will make cold areas of New Zealand more temperate and better suited to grape cultivation. Wine is only produced in the warmer, drier areas of the country, mainly Gisborne and Hawkes Bay on the east coast of the North Island, and Marlborough at the top of the South Island.
But if temperatures in New Zealand rise by one or two degrees as predicted, then wine growing could spread to other regions of the country, which are currently too cold or wet to support grapes.
As a New Zealander born and bred I can attest that the climate is changing. I have seen over recent years an increasing number of spring frosts and there's a large swing between day and night temperatures which helps develop the compounds within grapes that produce richer flavours.
If grapes can be cultivated on more of the mountainous, volcanic country then New Zealand could cash in on its newfound reputation as a producer of some of the world's finest whites.
Sauvignon blanc from the Marlborough region have been key in establishing New Zealand's reputation. Brands such as Montana and Kim Crawford and Tohu, which have picked up medals at London's International Wine Challenge, have helped reinforce the image.
It should be noted that for more than a century, wine was only drunk locally, with exports beginning in the 1970s and 1980s. New Zealand wines are due to the climate and a hotter climate of 3C degrees will create more unique flavours in the grapes, which will be matched by the skills of local winemakers in capturing it in the bottle.
New Zealand's whites such as sauvignon blanc and reds like pinot noir now popular from London to Los Angeles. But frosts and biting winds from Antarctica make it hard to cultivate wine-worthy grapes, but that may change.
Higher temperatures due to global warming will make cold areas of New Zealand more temperate and better suited to grape cultivation. Wine is only produced in the warmer, drier areas of the country, mainly Gisborne and Hawkes Bay on the east coast of the North Island, and Marlborough at the top of the South Island.
But if temperatures in New Zealand rise by one or two degrees as predicted, then wine growing could spread to other regions of the country, which are currently too cold or wet to support grapes.
As a New Zealander born and bred I can attest that the climate is changing. I have seen over recent years an increasing number of spring frosts and there's a large swing between day and night temperatures which helps develop the compounds within grapes that produce richer flavours.
If grapes can be cultivated on more of the mountainous, volcanic country then New Zealand could cash in on its newfound reputation as a producer of some of the world's finest whites.
Sauvignon blanc from the Marlborough region have been key in establishing New Zealand's reputation. Brands such as Montana and Kim Crawford and Tohu, which have picked up medals at London's International Wine Challenge, have helped reinforce the image.
It should be noted that for more than a century, wine was only drunk locally, with exports beginning in the 1970s and 1980s. New Zealand wines are due to the climate and a hotter climate of 3C degrees will create more unique flavours in the grapes, which will be matched by the skills of local winemakers in capturing it in the bottle.
14 February 2008
2 comments
2 comments so far
Dr. Tim
2008-03-28 04:16:01Global warming skeptics read this. The average temperature in the Netherlands in 2007 matched 2006, the warmest year in 300 years. Dutch temperature records are among the oldest in the world. Eight out of the ten warmest years in the Netherlands were after 1988. The average temperature in 2007 was 11.2C degrees, which, along with 2006, is highest average since Dutch temperatures were first, measured in 1706, the KNMI told Daily Planet Media.
Bluey E
2008-02-17 09:17:03I couldn’t give a Rat’s A about how a hotter world will improve New Zealand’s wine, but what does concern me is that global warming could bring sharks to Antarctic waters that will threaten marine life shielded from predators by frigid conditions for millions of years. Antarctica's surrounding waters remain too cold for sharks and other fish capable of crushing shellfish similar to the molluscs living in the vast continent's seas. But global warming has already pushed temperatures up in the past 50 years, and the waters could become hospitable to sharks within the next 100 years, she said. The water only needs to remain above freezing year round for it to become habitable to some sharks. The sharks will one day roam Antarctic waters as crabs are already crawling closer to the vast continent for the first time adding one more worry for a marine life left intact for 500 million.