There’s a worryingly valedictory tone to many of the conversations I have with winemakers these days. Time and again, I’m told that it’s impossible, in many if not most years, to make the wines in the style they used to make. Crop-destroying weather events that were considered extreme just a decade ago are now to be expected. Each year that passes brings them closer to the point where they will no longer be able to make wine in their vineyards at all.
The cause, of course, is something that even stubborn self-styled sceptics in the UK found difficult to deny as they wilted in the 40-degree heat this summer: the climate crisis. It is already the most significant influence on winemaking, vine-growing and wine style around the world, but its effects will only be more damaging as and when (can we even say “if” with any confidence any more?) average temperatures rise to more than 1.5C above the pre-industrial level by the end of the 2030s as many models expect.
