How are winemakers and scientists confronting the changing 'taste of wine' due to climate change?
In recent years, it is known that climate change is affecting a wide range of fields such as people's lives and agriculture. The taste of 'wine', which is familiar to people all over the world, is also changing due to the influence of climate change, and overseas media Ars Technica has released a report covering scientists and producers specializing in wine. did.
Climate change is altering the chemistry of wine | Ars Technica
Wine is produced by harvesting aged grapes and alcoholic fermentation and aging of the squeezed juice. Producers produce high quality wines by analyzing various chemical conditions that affect the quality of the wine and selecting the best one for the wine they are aiming for from the viticulture and harvesting stages. However, in recent years, the quality of wine has been greatly affected by changes in the climate due to climate change and the accompanying wildfires.
Extreme climate change can even kill the vines that make up wine in the first place, but invisible chemical changes in vine fruit are also a major threat. The factors that greatly affect the quality of wine are the ' sugar content ' that is accumulated in the fruit by photosynthesis of grapes, the ' acid ' that is decomposed as the grapes ripen, and the 'secondary compound' that is accumulated according to the season. Secondary compounds include anthocyanins , which add color to red grapes and protect them from UV rays, and tannins , which add astringency to wine and protect fruits from pests.
The components that are greatly related to the flavor of these wines are influenced by the grape varieties, the soil and climate of the place where they are cultivated, and climate change upsets the balance of sugar, acid and secondary compounds contained in the fruits. There is a possibility that it will end up. For example, as grapes ripen, they break down acid and accumulate sugar, so grapes grown in warmer climates have excess sugar, resulting in sweet raisin-like fruits. In wine making, yeast consumes sugar to produce alcohol, so it seems that the alcohol content of wine will be higher if sweet fruits are used, and the alcohol content of wine actually made in warm regions such as southern France is higher. Tends to be high.
Of course, it is okay for producers who are trying to make sweet wines from the beginning to use sweet fruits, but for producers who want to make fruity wines with a strong acidity, the increase in sugar content of the fruits due to warming impairs the flavor. There is a problem that it will be lost. In addition, if the alcohol content is too high, the delicate flavor of wine will be hidden, making it difficult to feel the original taste. Catherine Ross, a food chemist at the University of Washington, said that as warming progresses, many wines are approaching the sugar-rich grape variety
If the flavor of the wine is determined solely by the balance of sugar and acid, the solution is to harvest the grapes before they become too sweet due to the decomposition of acid and the accumulation of sugar. However, the balance of secondary compounds such as anthocyanins and tannins is also important for the flavor of wine, so farmers either 'harvest grapes at the stage where there are few secondary compounds but the sugar content is optimal' or 'secondary'. You're forced into the painful choice of 'harvesting grapes when they're rich in compounds but too high in sugar.'
Climate change causes changes in the flavor of wine, forcing wine producers to make various ingenuity and changes, but changes in the flavor of wine also affect sommeliers. It is said that the certification test of the master sommelier, which requires tasting wine to estimate the grape variety, year of production, production area, etc., has become more difficult. Even if you are told to take the exam, it is difficult to pass it. '
In recent years, wildfires due to climate change have also occurred frequently, but the exposure of grape fruits to the smoke of wildfires also has a great effect on the flavor of wine. The volatile phenolic components generated when wood burns penetrate from the epidermis of the grapes to the inside and combine with the sugar content of the grapes to
This is called a ' smoke taint ' and poses a major threat to winemakers. For example, in September 2020, when a large-scale wildfire broke out in Napa , California, which is known as a famous wine producing region, many grape farmers asked, 'Is it okay to use the grapes in our field for wine making? I asked the laboratory to analyze it to find out, 'Isn't it supposed to be harvested?', And it seems that there was a waiting time of up to 6 weeks. During this time, 8% of California wine grapes were reportedly left rotten.
In fact, Ars Technica writers who visited under Anita Oberholster, a wine chemist at the University of California, Davis, were exposed to 'ordinary wine' and 'smoke' stored at the institute's winery. We drank and compared 'wine made from grapes'. An informal blind test revealed that even the wine amateur writers could tell which was the wine made from the smoke-exposed grapes. The writers commented on the smoked wine, saying, 'It's smoky like a campfire,' 'I felt a burning odor in the back of my throat,' and 'I feel like I'm drinking burnt wood.' increase.
Wine scientists and winemakers are making various ingenuity and changes to address the changes in flavor caused by climate change. For example, for
You can also graft different varieties, cover the vines with a film that blocks some of the near-infrared rays from the sun, or cultivate the vines vertically to create shade. Scientists and producers are devising various measures. Furthermore, even for wines that have smoked tein due to the smoke of wildfires, it is possible to supplement the sugar content by blending with appropriate wines and improve the taste to a level that can be distributed on the market. Andy Beckstoffer, a prominent wine producer in Napa, said that blended wines made with smoked taint wines may not be $ 200, but $ 40. It can be a wine (about 5400 yen). '
There are concerns that changes in the taste of wine due to climate change may encourage consumers to move away from wine, but studies of red wines from Napa and Bordeaux have shown that wine ratings have risen over the last 60 years. It is shown to be. This overturns previous predictions that 'wine quality reaches its highest at an average growth temperature of 17.3 degrees Celsius,' suggesting that the efforts of winemakers may have resisted climate change. 'I think we can adapt to climate change,' said Steve Matthiason, a Napa winemaker who adjusts quality by shaded vines and changing the direction of planting. In the short term, our pace of learning is outpacing the pace of climate change. '
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