The average temperature in Sussex is a degree warmer than it was for most of the 20th century, with practical implications for the region’s vineyards.
However, anyone who thinks that climate change will provide a simple good news story for English wine-lovers may be deluding themselves. In England, depending on what happens to the gulf stream and other variables, it might become hotter, wetter or, perhaps, even colder. All that climate change really promises is chaos and instability, which are not conditions that are beneficial for grapes or any other crop.
Until relatively recently, the English wine industry tended to rely on high-yield, cold climate Germanic vines with names like tractor manufacturers: Huxelrebe and Dornfelder among others.
Although these are still present in many vineyards, many Sussex vignerons are now planting the classic “champagne” grapes: chardonnay, pinot noir and pinot meunier. The sparkling wines produced with those varieties by local producers, such as Nyetimber andRidgeview, among others, have regularly beaten champagne in international competitions and blind tastings. “The temperatures in this area are now pretty much where champagne’s were in the 1980s,” says Mark Driver. “And they made some pretty good champagne in the 70s and 80s.”
Find out more about how Sussex wine growers are already adapting to a shifting climate.
February 11th, 2016 at 7:23 pm
Thanks for your more sophisticated take on the impact of climate change. Unfortunately too many Brits seem to think that it means hotter summers (yippee!) and don’t appreciate the complexities of climate and the fact that it is hard to predict with confidence both what the impact of climate change may be in future and when these changes will occur. There are some interesting (and alarming) predictions on the Met Office site that suggest 2c or more in the uk in the 2020s. They also seem to predicting greater rainfall both in winter AND in summer. Last time I looked, the 2020s were 4 years away. Given the chaos that our current 0.8c of warming has caused, I think that you are entirely correct to scotch any simplistic ideas of a bit more sun and less snow…although I wish it was that simple.