Are These Wines Disappearing? ‘Threatened with Extinction’

Wine country, or rather: sparkling-wine country, is in turmoil. Here’s what’s going on: prosecco could be threatened with extinction. What’s happening?

In short: climate change. In 60 years, global wine production has never been as low as it is this year. Will we soon no longer be able to toast with a glass of prosecco on New Year’s Eve?

From intense drought to gigantic downpours

Climate change is causing certain regions, for example, to face extreme drought. And that drought in Europe is having a major impact on vineyards in the various wine-producing countries. A small side note: drought is not something new; there was also severe drought in 1921. Still, we can hardly deny that climate change is having an impact. Temperatures are higher and more extreme than they were a century ago. Drought in itself is not immediately a cause for panic; grapes are plants that can manage with little water, and vines can generally cope with drought quite well, especially older vines, which have deeper roots. But some water is always necessary.

In addition to extreme drought, climate change is bringing further changes in weather patterns. For example, it also means that there can be (extreme) rainfall during a period when there is normally little precipitation. This year, prosecco producers have had to deal with unpredictable weather conditions, including massive spring rainfall, hailstorms and a hot summer. All these factors disrupt the harvest. And especially for the Italian sparkling wine prosecco, this is becoming a major problem according to research: unstable weather is estimated to reduce Italy’s wine-grape harvest by as much as 20 percent.

What does this weather do to the harvest?

That is not so easy to explain, because it is caused by many different factors. The most important one is probably: the taste of the grape. Rising temperatures and drought make it more difficult for winegrowers to get the grape to develop the best possible flavor. How do you preserve acidity in the grape? How do you prevent too much sugar from building up in the grape? Simply put: how do you achieve the right balance when the grape ripens differently than usual?

The entire growing season is important for this; there is no point in looking only at summer, as changes in the winter climate also matter. France, for example, is experiencing milder winters, but it can freeze heavily in spring. Because winter is milder, the vines come out of dormancy earlier than they used to, but they are then more likely to freeze again because of frost in spring. Thiébault Huber, of Domaine Huber Verderau in Meursault (Burgundy), says: ‘Frost in April is nothing new. The problem is the spring-like weather in February and March.’

The 2023 wine harvest

So what exactly is happening with the European wine harvest? Another hot summer brought a small but good harvest in many European wine regions, despite extreme weather conditions such as heat, heavy rain and hail. France, Spain and Italy together account for around 80% of total EU wine production. The latest harvest figures show that the European wine harvest, at 150 million hectoliters, is 5.5% lower than the five-year average. For the first time in seven years, France overtook Italy as the largest producer, with an increase of 1.45% compared with last year. Italy is in second place, down 11.92% from last year; Spain (in third place) lost as much as 14.42%. Germany saw a more positive picture, with growth of 9.1%.

‘Fragile and threatened’ situation

Back to prosecco. Prosecco is produced in Veneto, which, together with Piedmont, is Italy’s most important wine-producing region (accounting for 22% of the total). By far most prosecco is made using the Charmat method; this means that the second fermentation, as with champagne, does not take place in the bottle but in a tank. The best prosecco regions are the hilly subregions of Conegliano-Valdobbiadene and Colli Asolani (which therefore have DOCG Prosecco Superiore status). You can even find proseccos here that have undergone their second fermentation in the bottle, but they represent only a small share of total prosecco production.

The University of Padua in Italy conducted research into climate change and prosecco production. According to the study, producing the immensely popular prosecco will become increasingly difficult if the extreme downpours continue—and that while prosecco is already in extremely high demand. Over the past five years, demand for prosecco has grown by more than 33 percent—for comparison: demand for champagne grew by only 1 percent. (This may sound like bad news for the Champagne region, but don’t be mistaken: in 2021, no fewer than 320 million bottles of champagne were sold, the largest quantity in 10 years.)

In this context, the journal iScience referred to a ‘fragile and threatened’ situation. But is that really the case? Yields in Veneto and Piedmont were virtually normal—as shown by the latest harvest figures, thanks to this year’s abundant rainfall, compared with last year’s severe drought. For now, then, we do not (yet) need to worry (too much).

Sparkling wine from the Netherlands

The vineyards in the Netherlands are doing increasingly well, partly because of climate change? Fifty years ago, the first vines of Apostelhoeve were planted on the hills around Maastricht. At the time, viticulture in the Netherlands was viewed with skepticism; by now, Apostelhoeve’s sparkling wine has a loyal following of fans. Including FavorFlav’s Sharon: ‘Cuvée XII Brut from De Apostelhoeve, soft bubbles from home soil—delicious!’

Perhaps we should open a Dutch sparkling wine more often, then?

Also read:

• 5 wineries where you can help with the grape harvest
• Red wine helps against a cold
• You need this now: a wine tap for your home

Source: Perswijn, hln.be/ EuroNews