Andre Kok is the sommelier and retail manager of Zyn.ca in Inglewood. Each Wednesday at 4:45, we speak to Andre about one of my favourite topics, wine! This week, Andre writes about a growing industry trend: 

I was asked by a good friend what kind of effect Global Warming has on wine and what wineries are doing (if anything) to reduce their Environmental Footprint:

Several independent scientific studies have gathered very similar data suggesting that the impact of global warming on many of the world’s leading wine regions may have already had a major influence on wine quality, and will likely have further significant effects in the near future. Overall, growing season temperatures have increased for most of the world’s high quality wine regions over the last 50 years, by an average of 2 ºC. “Coincidentally” with this rise in temperatures, the quality of vintages has also improved over this period. Of course we do need to keep in mind that winemaking and viticulture has improved quite dramatically over the last 50 years with the result that what would have been a disastrous vintage some decades ago is now salvageable.

So what kind of effects does rising temperatures have on the wines produced? In hot regions, grapes ripen to a “sugar ripe” condition, but lack flavours that can take time to develop. Other regions will likely have to consider other varieties that will produce better in a new climate regime. For example, in California’s Napa and Sonoma Valleys, the climate has become so warm that ripening fruit is not an issue, but retaining acidity and developing flavor (all three are needed for a well balanced wine) have become increasingly difficult in the warmer conditions. Analysis also shows that this issue could become very critical in already warm areas like Chianti, Barolo, Rioja, Southern France, the Hunter Valley, parts of Chile and the Central Valley of California.

One very noticeable difference has been the increase in alcohol in wines. When you look for instance at the average %Alc/Volume of Bordeaux wine produced in the 70’s & 80’s you’ll notice that many wines state about 11.5 to 12% Alcohol on the labels while many of the same wines today state 13 to 14% alcohol.

So while it seems that the climate change over the last 50 years has mostly had a positive effect on wine quality across some regions, the future picture could be quite different. And assuming that the projections from the climate models are at all accurate, viticulturalists across the globe will have their work cut out adapting their vineyards to take account of these changes.

Bringing me to the next point; what are wineries themselves doing to minimize their ‘environmental footprint’? Over the years an increasing amount of wineries world-wide have realized that chemical fertilizer, pesticides, herbicides and other chemical additions to the vineyards, actually have and adverse effect on the wines. Therefore organic practices, as well as organic wine making, are now commonplace. There are two major distinctions:

1) Organic growing; avoids the use of synthetic chemicals and uses natural methods like crop rotation, tillage and natural composts to maintain soil health as well as natural methods to control weeds, insects and other pests.

2) Biodynamic growing; is the highest form of organic farming. It goes beyond the elimination of all chemical inputs. It incorporates the environment in and around the vineyard and works with nature to apply the knowledge of life forces to bring about balance and healing in the soil. Some producers take this to an almost religious level. This form of farming was introduced by a gentlemen by the name of Rudolph Steiner in 1924 and now has hundreds of wineries following these practices world-wide.

One winery in particular that is actively pursuing “going green” is Elderton Wines:

Elderton has become a leader within the Australian wine industry in its environmental sustainability. They have proactively implemented a number of initiatives into the day to day operations of the winery, in order to minimize their environmental footprint and to promote a sustainable, clean and environmentally responsible work place.

Elderton was the first winery in South Australia to use Trees for Life's Carbon Neutral program. In their own words “Our accreditation through Carbon Neutral means that we have considered our carbon footprint in line with the Australian Government's Department of Climate Change, National Greenhouse Energy Reporting Act and measured all of Eldertons Wines Scope 1 & 2 carbon emissions. This includes emissions associated with company vehicle (fuel) use, and electricity usage. We have also chosen to measure domestic and international plane travel (Scope 3 emissions). We have then offset all of these company emissions by planting a set number of trees. In 2007 we planted more than 4,000 trees”. To find out more, visit: http://www.eldertonwines.com.au/environment/

Another winery that is very much focused on Organic and Biodynamic Farming is Benziger Family Winery from California’s Sonoma County. Whether the grapes come from their own vineyards or are purchased grapes from contract growers, they want to be involved in every step to insure the wines they produce are to their standards of sustainable agriculture. Visit them: http://www.benziger.com/farming/index.php

If you are interested in finding more organic and biodynamic wines, at ZYN.ca we highlight all wines produced in this manner on our website where they are marked with a ‘green leaf’. You can also narrow down your search in our advanced search database by selecting ‘Organic’. We also have a special section in our store dedicated to Organic and Biodynamic Wines.