2023-07-23 10:40:32
Lovers of wines from Spain or Italy do not have to worry about the extreme weather there yet. But if it lasts longer, it could be bad for the grape harvest.
An extreme heat wave has been ravaging southern Europe for more than a week. Temperatures in the south of Spain and Italy, among others, can rise above 45 degrees. The heat, together with the dryness, does not do the grapes any good.
At the moment, the damage is not too bad, thinks Peter van Houtert, chairman of the association of wine merchants KVNW. This is because it has not been hot for very long and many wine producers are located in the north of the country. “But if the heat lasts longer, wine producers in the southern areas of Italy will notice it.”
This mainly depends on the weather in the months of August and September. “Those are the most important harvest months. If it is still so hot then, it can have consequences for the harvest. Last year, for example, there was a prolonged heat wave. That affected the producers.”
Keeping bodegas cool is also becoming increasingly difficult
The hot weather also hurts in Spain. Not only for ‘regular’ wine, but also for sherry. Producers store the sherry in cool bodegas. “But it is becoming increasingly difficult to keep it cool, because the average temperature is rising further and further,” explains Van Houtert. “That is why they speak of desertification in those regions.”
In any case, he sees that climate change is affecting wine production. “This is slowly moving further north. You see more and more winemakers in the south of England. That actually makes sense, because that area is about the same height as the north of the Champagne region in France.”
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