High-altitude grape farming has moved from fringe interest hot topic. Kathleen Wilcox explores the pros, the cons and how it affects the wines in your glass. This summer was the hottest on record, with temperatures between June and August soaring 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above the preindustrial average, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service. 2024 is expected to shatter records overall, and be the warmest year ever seen on earth. This heat is fatal for humans and really, all living things. It has not only increased the number of heat-related deaths in the U.S. alone by 117% between 1999 and 2023, according to the Journal of American Medical Association , it is causing mass extinctions and imperiling many forms of agriculture, including the grape and wine industry, with scientists warning that 85% of the world’s wine-growing regions could be wiped out by 2050 if warming trends continue. While growing grapes at higher elevations is no panacea against warmer temperatures, it does seem to help. Scientists and vintners are finding that it allows wineries in regions where planting vineyards higher is possible to create wines that are riper, more complex and fresher than the wines they’d be able to make on the valley floor. But why? “We have found that the effects of altitude on vine cultivation are considerable,” says Pablo Cuneo, winemaker at Bodegas Luigi Bosca in Argentina, with vineyards at more than 3,600 feet in elevation. “The lower day and night temperatures in higher altitude vineyards allow vines to produce, concentrate and preserve more aromas, acidity and polyphenols, which create colour and tannins.” Simply put, for every 325 feet (100 metres) in increased altitude, there is an average decrease of between 0.65 and 1 degrees Celsius in average daily temperature, which allows grapes to ripen […]
Click here to view original web page at www.thedrinksbusiness.com