French vineyards producing higher quality wine due to climate change

A number of studies have highlighted the threat of climate change to coastal cities and dry areas around the globe, but a new research suggests that French vineyards are enjoying the earth’s rising temperature. But how?

Dramatic rise in earth’s temperature is having an effect on the way grapes are grown and harvested, as per the study. This affect is altering the taste of French wine and making it even better, it added.

During to the increased global warming, wine manufacturers are harvesting wines roughly two weeks earlier than in the past. In wine industry, early harvesting means good quality wine. The rising temperature may be good news for French wine today, but it will not be able to maintain this wine taste forever, study researchers speculated.

The study has highlighted that wine harvest dates are getting much earlier, which is directly linked to change in earth’s weather patterns, said Elizabeth Wolkovich, an author of the study and a professor from the Harvard University. In last more than three decades, harvest dates in France are getting earlier and earlier because planet is warming rapidly, Wolkovich added.

Wolkovich stated that a time will come when global warming will reach a tipping point. “The trend, in general, is that earlier harvest leads to higher-quality wine but you can connect the dots here. We have several data points that tell us there is a threshold we will probably cross in future where higher temperatures will not produce higher quality”, the researcher continued.

The study also pointed out that there could be several other reasons, other than early harvest, behind better French wine. In 2003, when temperature higher killed many people in the region, the wine was of mixed quality, it stated.