Warming climate brings opportunities for cool-weather wineries

Jul 21, 2023
As iconic wine regions get too hot, growers in historically challenging locations may rise in the global economy.
Johannes Aufricht is the third-generation owner of his family business, Winery Aufricht, in southwest Germany.
Emily Haavik for Marketplace

Napa Valley's vineyards are in "climate crisis," winemaker says

Oct 3, 2022
Between heat waves, droughts and wildfires, the grapes of California's wine region are suffering nature's wrath. Producers are trying to adapt.
The climate crisis, which worsens drought and wildfires, is changing agriculture. That includes vineyards.
Samuel Corum/AFP via Getty Images

Horses are again working in French vineyards

Aug 4, 2022
The animals can work land that is inaccessible to tractors, and vineyard owners say they improve the soil for grapes. But they raise costs as well.
A horse named Diva at work at Chandon de Briailles, one of many French vineyards that use horses instead of tractors.
John Laurenson

Sour grapes? An English county's wine wins a special status, but a neighboring county complains.

Jul 8, 2022
Sussex wineries receive a prestigious distinction, but a Kent winemaker dismisses the award as arbitrary, citing similar growing conditions.
Rows of vines cover the hills at a Sussex County vineyard in 2015. The government honored the county's white wines with a Protected Designation of Origin.
Glyn Kirk/AFP via Getty Images

Can winemakers salvage grapes tainted by wildfire smoke?

Jun 7, 2022
Scientists are looking at ways to determine if grapes from smoky areas can still be used, without adding an unpleasant ashy taste to wine.
Phil Crews at his Pelican Ranch Winery in Scotts Valley. Crews, an organic chemist at UC Santa Cruz, showed that a method pioneered in Australia can detect smoke's impact on California wines.
Jerimiah Oetting/KAZU News

How Germany's Ahr region found a way to sell wine after a devastating flood

Sep 28, 2021
Vineyards in the Ahr Valley were destroyed by the summer floods, but that opened up a unique business opportunity for the area. Meet FlutWein.
Peter Kriechel and Daniel Kollar (in shorts) are the founders of FlutWein, which has been successful selling wine from the flood-ravaged Ahr wine region.
Victoria Craig / BBC

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Smoke damage to grapes is the latest blow to California wine industry

Oct 6, 2020
A glut of grapes on the market, the pandemic and fires that damaged or destroyed wineries. Now, grapes tainted by smoke may be unusable.
“It was difficult this year, and it’s going to be even harder next year,” says Enrique Lopez, who employs up to 100 people to harvest grapes.
Beth LaBerge/KQED

Virtual wine tasting boosts London's locked-down spirits

Mar 19, 2020
With people encouraged to stay home in London, business owners are finding enterprising ways of making money and boosting spirits.
To keep spirits high among staff and customers, Gus Gluck decided to start conducting virtual wine tasting sessions on Instagram in the evenings.
Victoria Craig

The sun finally shines on one of the world’s most northerly vineyards — because of climate change

Nov 22, 2019
Higher temperatures have transformed the fortunes of the English wine industry, including Renishaw Hall in Derbyshire.
Climate change is credited with improving winemaking conditions to Northern England.
Andreas Rentz/Getty Images