UK Wine Show 95 Dr Hans Schultz Climate Change and Wine 3 Impact on Viticulture in Europe

This show was published 14 March 2008

Overview

Dr Hans Schultz is a Professor at the Department of Viticulture in The Geisenheim Research Institute of Germany. He is one of the first scientists to research the impact of climate change on Viticulture and talks to us about how warmer temperatures could effect Europe.

Average temperature increases are projected between 1 to 4 degrees on a global scale but regionally the predictions are very different. In Europe, for example, the Mediterranean will warm up the most and the rest of Europe will see smaller variations. Europe is predicted to be 4 degrees warmer by the end of this century. The area of bigger concern is the variability of the weather. The highest variations will be in western France, Champagne, Alsace, Germany and Austria. The issue is the change from very hot to cooler temperatures (as in 2006). This leads to problems with water. In warm weather the moisture is held in the atmosphere but in cold weather the moisture is released resulting in too much moisture in the ground.

Heavier but less frequent rainfall particularly in steep slope areas will also be a problem where high precipitation rates are likely to cause superficial run off and reduce the amount of water absorbed by the soil.

Warmer temperatures are a bigger concern than an increase in UV light (which has been more or less stabilized). With warmer weather the acidity of grapes decreases and the PH increases and this is a concern for the ageing potential of white wines.

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Music

The music used for the UK Wine Show is Griffes de Jingle 1 by Marcel de la Jartèle and Silence by Etoile Noire.