Climate change is changing the way winemakers make wine. Once temperate grape-growing regions are growing hotter, challenging winemakers to produce high quality wines in unfamiliar ways. Many of the negative effects of climate change on the wine world are already apparent: European vineyards in the heart of traditional winemaking areas, for example, are suffering lower yields due to increasing temperatures. But new opportunities are also presenting themselves: areas in Europe and the Americas that could not successfully produce vitis vinifera grapes are becoming important players in the new world of wine.
This book will explore climate change in a wine producing context, discussing why climate is important to grape growing and how climatic changes can affect grapes and wine. It will cover each major wine region in the world, analyzing the likely trends and their responses. And it will cover the ways wine producers are coping with this very quickly changing landscape.
All this is central to the world of wine and centrally important to those who enjoy wine's complexity and variety.
Industry Reviews
Wine and Climate Change: Winemaking in a New World is a seminal work and is especially recommended for professional, academic, and community library Agricultural Studies reference collections in general, and the personal reading lists of wine connoisseurs in particular. -- Jack Mason, Reviewer Midwest Book Review Wine and Climate Change is well-researched, and well-argued, and isn't afraid to cite data whenever appropriate in the context of building its case. Johnson-Bell clearly knows the topic of wine in great depth, and the book is potentially useful (and an interesting read) for both those in the wine industry and those outside of it who simply love wine and are interested in the topic... Acting as a quick read from an authoritative (and opinionated) wine source, and full of detailed knowledge that successfully builds its case, Wine and Climate Change is an enthusiastic and eye-opening look into how climate change may have already impacted the wine world, and what that could mean for the industry's future. -- Joe Roberts wine.answers.com