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“Because of this warming, we’re seeing a wider selection of very interesting wines,” said Dave Parker, founder and CEO of Benchmark Wine Group, a large vintage wine retailer. “We see regions that historically have not been given much thought at the moment to produce some excellent wines. England, Oregon, New Zealand or Austria may have been marginal before but now they produce great wines. If you’re a wine lover, this is a bit of an exciting time.”
Rising temperatures have certainly taken a toll on some winemakers, but in some wine producing regions the warmth has been a boon for drinkers browsing their vineyards and wine. Mr. Parker said that growing conditions for sought-after vintages in Bordeaux come less frequently, and sometimes only once every ten years: 1945, 1947, 1961, 1982, 1996 and 2000. Because of the heat, they were all very mature vintages. But in the last decade, with temperatures soaring in Bordeaux, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019 wines are all sought after and highly priced.
There are also wines from regions that have been overlooked before.
“I can say that right now is not a better time for wine collectors,” said Axel Heinz, property manager of two of Italy’s leading wineries, Ornellaia and Masseto. “Vintage and wine have gotten a lot better. And for us, the changes over the last 20 years have focused on many growing regions like Italian and Spanish wine that collectors weren’t interested in before.”
(Still, his vineyards aren’t immune to the negative effects of climate change, with increased risk of spring frosts and hail, he said.)
Yet despite all the romance attached to making wine, it’s essentially farming. Therefore, while winemakers reaped the benefits of higher temperatures, grape growers had to adapt in ways that affected prices as well as grape types. (And of course, vineyards are sometimes integrated, so grape growers and winemakers are part of the same operation.)
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