Climate change shifting Europes wine-growing regions

Climate change is fundamentally altering the conditions for wine growing in Europe. According to a Swiss study, suitable areas are shifting northwards and to higher altitudes.

At the same time, the increasing risk of disease is likely to limit the potential of new growing regions.

The study, carried out in collaboration with researchers from the University of Geneva, examined the future development of European viticulture using so-called climate analogues, as the authors wrote in the journal Agricultural and Forest Meteorology. Using this approach, the researchers compared the future climate of wine-growing regions with existing areas that currently have similar conditions.

The study was based on six bioclimatic indices that reflect both the growing conditions for vines and the risks posed by plant diseases such as downy and powdery mildew, as well as gold yellowing.

The results revealed contrasting trends: as temperatures rise, areas suitable for viticulture tend to shift northwards and to higher altitudes.

Numerous regions in southern Europe could become too hot and too dry for cultivation in future. At the same time, moisture-related diseases led to shifts towards the east or west, depending on local conditions.