How Europe’s wine regions are coping with climate change

he climate around the Mediterranean rim is changing. On January 30 at the Institut Agro in Montpellier, engineering student Quentin Gerona invited winegrowers to rethink “their vision of the ecosystem and their place in it”. Gerona screened the documentary ‘Vignes sur le Fil’ (or vines down to the wire) which he co-produced with Emma Crouzet and Isaure Sellier, a member of the RaidWine association, during a five-month tour of Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece.

“We used our gap year to collect around 60 testimonials from producers, researchers and producers’ organisations”, Gerona explained to the audience. “Our documentary presents their observations and their responses to climate change. We hope it will inspire you as you look for new viticulture techniques and management resources”.

As in France, the winegrowers met by the students all recount how extreme weather events are increasing – storms, frost and hail – along with droughts. “Summer 2017 was a turning point. It lasted through to November with several days at 45°C”, recalls a Portuguese winegrower. “In Italy, we have had two winters with no rain”, says another grower.

To continue making wine, some of them use cover crops and stop ploughing to promote dampness and life in the soil. In Alentejo and Calabria, research work to find local grape varieties that can cope with the increase in temperatures is ongoing. Winegrowers also present new pruning methods that require less water and protect the clusters…

Although the documentary deliberately avoids the issue, irrigation and sharing water resources was debated during the panel discussion following the screening, as was agricultural diversification.