Spanish winemakers look to higher ground

Climate change, which could transform the Iberian peninsula into a semi-desert, is forcing winemakers in Spain to consider moving their vines to higher ground to escape the blistering heat.

Spain, which has more hectares (acres) of vineyard than any other country in the world, “is in the frontline of climate change,” said Juan Francisco Cacho, a wine expert at the University of Zaragoza.
The country, already the driest in Europe, is threatened with “Africanisation” of its climate and up to one third of its territory risks “severe” desertification, according to the environment ministry.

Now, the big wineries and the Spanish Wine Federation are looking into a project, called Demeter, aimed at “gathering the knowledge necessary to face the challenge of climate change.”

Vines love the sun, as all vintners know well. But too much heat is harmful to the proper ripening of the grapes, said Cacho.

Heat waves rob the grapes of sugar while the elements that give wine its aroma, its consistency and its colour ripen more slowly.

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