Global warming and viticulture will give Brittany a new reason to be proud

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Global warming will give Bretons a new argument to be proud of their region

Science – Ar gwin a vez tennetNow you have to drink it. In the sea of ​​bad news that global warming brings, there are predictions that deserve a little hope. A new study on the adaptation of wine-growing regions to global warming, published in the journal Nature This Tuesday, March 26th, there is something to worry about… but also a little hope. Especially if your heart belongs to Anne de Bretagne.

A study carried out by a French team under the National School of Agronomic Sciences indicates the level of threat by region: year after year, it is more difficult to make wine in the Mediterranean regions, and this trend should not exist. Change when the study relies on a more than likely scenario of 2° warming above pre-industrial temperatures. Because the problem isn't just heat (which delays harvests), it's also water. Or lack thereof.

In France and the Mediterranean Spain, the Po Valley of Italy, the Balkan Peninsula or southwest of the Black Sea, “The lack of water creates the risk of not being able to increase the irrigation needed to protect these wine growing areas”, The study notes. Stock up your cellar, Languedoc wine lovers…

Fresh trendy Pinot Noir

However, all is not so bleak, at least in France. The softening temperatures make it possible to open some territories to wine cultivation: some French regions have already been enjoying it for years, even decades. l'Ile-de-France Or Picardy, territories with a long wine-growing tradition that almost disappeared, are already regaining color.

For them, warming improves pre-existing conditions. But only one region in France has turned out to be a region “suitable for grape growing” for researchers: Brittany.

Of course, as wine lovers will tell you, Breton wines didn't wait for the world to go above 2 degrees to let the vines develop. But compared to neighboring Nantes, the production is nuclear: “It's the right word” Confirm HuffPost Yves Abautret, Secretary of the Association for the Recognition of Breton Wines, “Two winemakers market their first harvests in 2023.” For the 2024 vintage, there should be 5 or 6.

The fault, of course, is the climate, which has not yet been suitable for most grape varieties used by the wine industry: too low temperatures and too much rainfall do not allow the grapes to be sweet enough. But as the maps below indicate, taken from the same team's work from 2023, almost the entire Breton region will become suitable for maturing Chardonnay, Sauvignon and Pinot Noir between 2030 and 2060.

Maria Savlyanova, Valerie Bonnardot, Cornelis van Leeuwen, Herve Quenol, Nathalie Oulad. Using temperature-based models of GFV and GSR in growing wine regions to aid decision-making regarding choices in grape varieties and wine styles.

Chardonnay (yellow) and Pinot Noir (red) mature before September 15 in the period 2031-2060. For viticulture, that means a lot.

Also, this is an exciting opportunity for local producers or those who dream of becoming one, which leaves room for creativity: “The ambition is to produce other wines”, enthuses Yves Abautret. But of course, there are many climatic parameters that may or may not make Brittany a new land of great wines: for example, the intensity of warming, according to the government, may reach 4 °, not 2 in France. .. Like wine, therefore, in moderation. Otherwise hello damage.

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