Climate change making life tough for Cholderton winemaker
We've been speaking to Bluestone Vineyards about the impact of weather
Winemaking in the UK is being challenged by climate change.
As the British climate changes, a South Wiltshire winemaker has explained to Greatest Hits Radio the impact the changing climate can have on their produce.
Nat McConnell from Bluestone Vineyards in Cholderton says Britain has always been tricky given our geographical location and it’s associated weather, but climate change is driving more varied weather patterns, which in turn has an effect on the vineyards.
And while traditional winemaking countries like France and Italy are experiencing another summer of incredible heat, the UK suffered one of the wettest July’s on record.
Nat told us that England is a marginal climate for growing grapes, with our longitude of about 52 degrees north of the equator on the upper limit of what makes producing wine possible.
But he says that climate change means that positional number should be revised.
“We're getting, on average, warmer. Our growing seasons are slightly longer, but again, in comparison to sort of the wider wine growing world, we're very marginal still,” he explained.
“We have, we do have shorter summers, we have wet summers and much cooler summers. So again, that kind of really influences what it is we can grow here and what stars have one that we can make.”
Climate change affecting Grapevines all year round
As our weather pattern is shifting from what has been the norm, it’s affecting how plants react in different seasons.
Grapevines go into dormancy during the winter, but, as Nat explained, the wet and mild winter we’ve had most recently, didn’t allow the vines to go into dormancy properly.
“It's kind of still kind of on the edge waiting to sort of come back to life. It doesn't necessarily take draw the nutrients back from the top bid of the plant down into the trunk and the roots, which is what you want to do, you want it to store (energy) overwinter.”
And with temperatures continuing to fluctuate through spring, the warm weather brings an early bud burst, but that exposes the grapevines to frost, which Nat told us could happen as late as the end of May in some case.
Nat added that grape growers get nervous around the time of Wimbledon. And it’s nothing to do with what happens on Centre Court.
“As soon as you see the roof going over on Centre Court, we get a bit nervous because we know there's rain coming and it's that time of year where the vines are going through flowering and that rain and wind and that just sort of damp weather is not good news for vines when they're flowering.”
Current weather leaving vines disease prone
The damp weather provides as further challenge through the late summer and into Autumn, as the rain fall allows the plant to grow “wildly” but also leaves them prone to disease.
Mildews are one of the prime diseases Nat and his team are watching out for.
“It can affect the canopy, so it can affect the plants ability to generate energy through photosynthesis. Or it could get onto the bunches as well.
“So one way or another it will either remove your plants ability to generate energy to sustain itself and to ripen the fruit, or it gets on the fruit itself and completely destroys your crop.”