🍷 Can our favourite wines survive climate change?
+ your final hit of good news for 2024
Happy Monday! Every Monday we suit up and get serious - digging into a climate topic, rounding up the past week’s Good(s) News and sharing updates from across FTF, so you’re never out of the loop.
If you’re hosting a few friends, or some family, this time of year, then you might be considering what the best drink is to pair with your food. Maybe you play it safe and go for the grape varieties you always see listed in restaurant menus (this is not the time to experiment, the in-laws are coming). Maybe you don’t like to drink wine at all and are looking for a delicious fizzy grape juice to mark the occasion. But have you considered that the old familiar grape varieties could be facing a bit of a crisis?
This week the newest member of our writing team, Aurore, digs into the challenges vineyards are facing and how they are adapting.
> In Focus
Sour Grapes? The Challenges of Winemaking in a Hotter World
It’s a rainy Sunday morning in August, I’m catching up with a friend, we’ve cancelled our walk in the park and are having a coffee indoors instead. Inevitably we discuss the change in climates, he explains that he’s been unable to source good coriander for his restaurant: Southern Europe has been too hot and dry, other parts of the continent too wet. When I ask how he’s adapting his recipes, he admits he hasn’t - he’ll be sourcing from farther afield. The irony of solving a problem by exacerbating it troubles me. He explains the pressure to meet customer expectations, maintain set flavour profiles. Replacing coriander feels far off.
That conversation takes me back to a visit to Albury Vineyard in Surrey earlier that summer. They had explained that beyond the traditional grape varieties, many English winemakers had been experimenting with new ones, better adapted to the local and changing climate. They’ve integrated Seyval Blanc: “it needs less chemical sprays and has a similar taste profile to Chardonnay“. The challenges of getting consumers on board came up then as well.
70% of wine-producing regions are predicted to become unsuitable as global temperatures rise, so the wine world has been at the forefront of the fight for adaptation. They’ve had to do it before everyone else, what are the key challenges, and how are they tackling them?
Beyond Bordeaux
One of the most impacted regions is Alsace, where I found myself last October, arriving as the harvest ended. One of the winemakers I speak to tells me that compared to when he started 46 years ago, harvest now begins 26 days earlier. The change in climate has brought much warmer summers, more droughts, and more floods. These conditions have impacted the wine flavour profiles and alcohol levels. Yields have been declining.
Some winemakers are trying to ignore the problem. Technical processes allow them to control and modify acidity and alcohol levels. They want to make the same wines they made here 20 years ago.
Other winemakers know that this cannot last. Back in Alsace, in 2024 some vineyards had to be treated with pesticides twice as many times as in previous years, the current varieties aren’t as adapted any more. So they’re exploring new ones.
A winemaker explains he’s planted a few vines of Malbec, another Vermentino, Syrah is a popular choice. All chosen because they are known to behave well in the climates they think Alsace might be displaying in a couple of years. Now they need to find out how they’ll behave on local soils.
More recent solutions also include hybrid varieties (or PiWis), created to be sturdier and disease-resistant. They are being embraced by old and new wine regions alike and geographical rules are changing to allow winemakers to experiment more and include these new varieties in blends.
As a winemaker puts it, “We’ve seen the problem come very early and have had to embrace sustainability and experimentation a long time ago. Changing our methods, and reintroducing biodiversity, it’s not been a question of communication, but of survival. We hope consumers will follow”.
What can we learn from their experiences?
Move over coriander, here comes parsley
As manufacturers we need to question the impact of our ingredients, how it has changed over the years and whether it is still the right choice. Speak to producers: how has climate change impacted them, what are they doing to adapt and can we support them with that?
As consumers, we can be more open to change. Maybe this holiday we’ll pick up the bottle of sparkling with the unknown grape name (Phoenix, Regent, Rondo are amongst those currently grown in the UK). As we cook celebratory meals we’ll question whether shifting seasons have impacted the availability of ingredients and if recipes can be modified to match the current climate. Do we need coriander in this dish?
All winemakers agree education has a huge role to play. Consumers need to be taken on the journey and understand both the issues and the solutions.
To quote Falconeri in the Leopard, “If we want things to stay as they are, things will have to change”.
> Follow up with…
Article: New challenges impact the 2024 harvest, Albury Vineyards
Article: Will New Grape Varieties Change the Identity of Classic Wine Regions? SevenFifty Daily
> Last week in consumer goods x climate…
The Good(s) News
»Up and coming brands
🎯 The Long Run Club and PEACHIES STORE have both achieved B Corp certification, with the Long Run Club earning an impressive score of 99.3.
🎯 Olio celebrated a major milestone by saving over 100 million meals through its free-sharing app, equivalent to conserving 31 billion litres of water and preventing 178,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.
🎯 Celleste Bio secured $4.5M in funding, including backing from Mondelēz International, to further develop its AI-driven cell-based cocoa technology for sustainable cocoa production.
»Bigger organisations
⭐️ Albert Heijn announced its B Corp certification with a score of 97.9, surpassing the required threshold by 17.9 points.
⭐️ Reiss has partnered with SOJO to offer alteration and repair services at its Kent House and Long Acre stores in London, promoting the longevity of its garments.
⭐️Unilever, Danone, McCain, Bel Group and Oatly have joined forces to urge the EU to prioritize decarbonisation of the agricultural sector, emphasizing the need for reforms in subsidies and a shift towards greener practices to address climate change, biodiversity loss, and food security. Their call includes boosting support for sustainable farming, and creating an Agriculture Just Transition and Nature Fund to aid conservation and restoration efforts.
Want good news sooner? We post our top 5 stories in our LinkedIn newsletter every Friday! If your CPG brand has good news to share, let us know.👇
> In case you missed it
Want more?
Catch up on our chat with UK wine brand, The Uncommon, in The Check-Out
Planning what big challenges you will tackle in the new year? Don’t forget to use our databases to find your ideal partners to MEASURE and MITIGATE your impacts.
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Thank you for being such amazing, loyal and engaged readers this year! We look forward to sharing more sustainability insights from the brands you love in 2025.
Much love,
Team FTF
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