The Australian ‘Black Summer’ of 2019/20, which saw bushfires destroy swathes of vineyard land across the country was a dramatic reminder of the growing challenges facing winemakers around the world. We spoke to leading Australian winemakers and lab technicians to find out how agile decision-making is helping to deal with the consequences of global warming. Offering alarming proof of the escalating effects of climate change, in November 2019 bushfires blazed through New South Wales, scorching more than five million hectares of land following Australia’s hottest and driest year on record. In December 2019, the fires swept through the Adelaide Hills, destroying 650 ha of vines in the region, and wiping out entire vineyards. Making matters worse, the smoke from the fires was far-reaching, rendering vineyard plots from Canberra to the Hunter Valley useless. Ravaging an estimated 24.3 million hectares of land in total and destroying over 3,000 buildings, the September 2019

Unstable weather is making it increasingly hard to decide picking dates for grapes. We caught up with leading winemakers from Australia, France and the UK to find out how earlier harvests are impacting on grape quality. Having always been at the mercy of Mother Nature, winemakers are acutely aware of the impact climate change is having on their livelihoods. Temperatures aren’t only rising, weather patterns are becoming increasingly erratic and extreme, and incidents of devastating wildfires, floods, droughts and late spring frosts are becoming more commonplace in the world’s leading wine-growing regions. In 2021, France was besieged by a cocktail of climate catastrophes, from destructive spring frosts and raging wildfires to violent hail storms. The April frosts across swathes of French vineyard land were particularly brutal, resulting in losses of up to EUR 2 billion. Yields across France hit historic lows in 2021, down 30% on average, though losses were far worse in many

During her 20-year career at Yalumba, Louisa Rose has become one of the world’s most respected winemakers, challenging perceptions of Barossa Valley Shiraz and helping to put Australian Viognier on the world wine map. We caught up with her to find out how the 2022 vintage is shaping up, and the changes she’s making in the vineyard to safeguard the estate against global warming. How are things going at Yalumba – what’s new for 2022? All is well – Australian wine in general has had a few headwinds in the commercial red space on the back of the Chinese tariffs, and we’re working to balance our supply and demand. Things are generally looking strong as we have a well-balanced portfolio. What have you been focusing your efforts on recently? Sustainability is a big focus at the moment. We’ve been measuring our carbon footprint for decades, but all of a sudden people want to hear about it. We wouldn’t still be here if we hadn’t made i