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Osborn: Burgundy won’t be making Pinot in 20 years
The effects of climate change are happening so quickly that Burgundy will be unable to make Pinot Noir in 20-40 years according to leading Australian winemaker Chester Osborn.
Chester Osborn of d’Arenberg believes that the effects of climate change will become so severe that Burgundy will be unsuitable for Pinot Noir production in 20 years
Speaking to the drinks business during a recent trip to London, the chief winemaker of d’Arenberg said:
“Climate change is happening. The start date of each vintage moves forward by a week per decade. There’s no doubt that we’re seeing the effects of global warming.
“Burgundy won’t be making Pinot Noir in 20-40 years as it will be too hot; they’ll be making Shriaz and still Pinot production will move to Champagne and England.
“There is a very real possibility that if the effects of global warming get too servere then Barolos won’t be made as Nebbiolo is such a sensitive variety and needs such specific conditions.
“Global warming is going to completely re-set the game – Bordeaux is going to have massive problems.”
But it’s not all doom and gloom, as Osborn believes climate change can be tackled in the vineyard by planting alternative varieties that are better suited to warmer temperatures.
“The solution lies in different grape varieties. Grenache works well in Australia and Mencía is a strong contender to replace Shiraz as they share similar characteristics,” he told db.
“We have 1.5 acres planted but I’m planting more. It’s working really well as it’s a very late ripening variety, which is what I want. It has a beautiful, spicy, herbal character that reminds me of Shiraz, red cherry fruit and a similar length to Shriaz.
“As for whites, I think Assyrtiko, Fiano and Greco di Tufo have great potential in Australia and I’m experimenting with all three,” he added.
While global warming presents a very real threat to winemakers around the world, Osborn says that converting to bioynamics hasn’t been difficult.
“It hasn’t been a challenge for us being biodynamic as it’s very dry in the McLaren Vale. You don’t need to pick on a specific day during the lunar cycle to be biodynamic, but I think there’s something in it, as when you’re coming up to a full moon the tide is the strongest and our yeasts are the most active.
“Our ferments go faster when we’re coming up to a full moon. There a subtle changes in pressure and the moonlight has some impact on the plants,” Osborn said.
“I believe in biodynamics. We first trialled it in 2009 and the wines were more mushroomy and earthy, which is why it works so well in Burgundy, as without it the wines can be quite tight and lean,” he added.
Like Chile’s Aurelio Montes, Osborn believes that music can have a positive effect on grape growth.
“Plants respond positively to music. At the vines surrounding our winery we play a special algorithm of music created by DJ Trip that changes depending on the weather.
“We’ve just made our first vintage from the vines that were played music and it’s our best in 15 years,” Osborn revealed.
Sitting in London & 33C expected for tomorrow, it would be tempting to agree with Chester Osborn’s doom/laden prospect for Pinot Noir in Burgundy ( in Champagne, too?) come 2040. This assumes that warming/climate change is on a straight trajectory upwards: CC on current evidence tends to osciilate between years of great heat, 2003 2005 2015 and now 2018 and much cooler harvests such as 2007 20083 and 2013. 2003 has been written off start but in maturity there are good lush Pinot Ns. Shiraz in England?!!
Let’s make a bet on that Burgundy prediction mate.
I will bet him a case of 2038 La Tache that he is not even close to correct and I fervently believe in climate change but statements like this are just provocative for the sake of making headlines.
Just returned from Portugal, the Lisbon coast, where they are ‘enjoying’ their coolest summer in 40 years. So there are two sides to the story. May turn into a classic vintage, with long ripening times and high quality
Was just reading this report from Wine Marlborough last night about much higher winter temperatures in the region. Scroll to page 8 of the PDF… Chester’s predictions don’t seem unlikely to me. http://www.wine-marlborough.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/WinePress-July-2016.pdf
Unfortunately Lucy somewhat left out the other half of the quote. I mentioned that Pinot won’t be growing in Burgundy 20 to 40 years, not just 20years . Based on the fact that grape picking has moved forward in most place in the world by one week per decade over the last 40 years. It’s important to add that in 20years pinot will still be growing in Burgundy, but its suitability will be diminished. At 40 years it shouldn’t be there in any reasonable way.
The justification for this is that climate change is happening faster each decade and all efforts to change CO2 output are not resulting in low outputs. Not only is it becoming increasingly warmer and the weather much more variable, but an important factor is the higher level of CO2 available each year to vines to make sugars and leaves ,(with more leaves, vines make even more sugars, and sugar is made up in a big way of Carbon ), (1960’s CO2 level= 320ppm. CO2 Level now= 410ppm, and going up at 2ppm per year, in 20 years it will be 40ppm higher and in 40years 80ppm more). So more sugar made per day means earlier ripening. This moving forward of picking dates is accelerating. Vines are a huge indicator of climate change. This means in 20 years we could be harvesting another month earlier, and then possibly nearly a month early in the next decade, (20-30 years), followed possibly by a month or more earlier the next decade, (30-40years). That would make growing Pinot in any quality way impossible in many years in Burgundy, and much more conducive to Shiraz that ripens a month or 2 after Pinot when grown in the same site.
There is the caveat part a mentioned also that with Greenland melting the warm ocean currents going passed England may not happen as they normally do and this would make England and France colder. So that would balance the effects or maybe make it too cold. This modeling is very complicated and makes many assumptions that leave us guessing.
Didn’t know D’Arenberg was based in Burgundy
This is a fascinating topic but the one thing I always miss is the fact that scientists could do trials in areas that are already as warm as models predict certain areas will be in 20 or 40 years from now.
We grow grapes and make wine in central Texas where is hot as you cannot imagine, I presume, and I can tell you that plants do adapt to the heat by means of their Heat Shock Genes which are triggered with increasing temps during the Spring. All they need is time to express them and they’ll be fine under our scorching summer.
Warm weather varieties do well here, as it can be anticipated, but there are examples of Sauvignon Blanc, and Chardonnay that break all miths. Not many Pinots, I have to say, but I truly believe that there’s a Nature adaptation factor that we’re simply not considering.
Lastly, there are two periods in history when Europe was warmer than today, one, called the Roman warm period, probably when Greenland was named like that, saw viticulture in Britain, and the other being the Medieval warm period, when there was also a thriving wine industry in today’s UK. Since Pinot can be traced back in Europe like a thousand years, according to Ben Lewin’s book “In Search of Pinot Noir”, it means that it was already there when this Medieval warm period was in place, again, an era hotter than today.
Therefore, I think it’s a bit more complex and the studies that could be made to better understand the process are not being done.
Regards