Climate Change and the Wine Industry: Current Research Themes and New Directions

Abstract

Research on climate change and the wine industry has been characterized by several themes. Studies have addressed the impacts of climate change on wine quality, impacts of climate change and variability on grapevine yield and phenology, and vineyard site suitability analyses in the context of terroir. This paper reviews the state of knowledge on the implications of climate change for viticulture and viniculture and suggests the vulnerability approach as a direction for future research. This approach will increase understanding of the adaptive capacity of the wine sector, with the ultimate goal of reducing the vulnerability of the industry to climate change.

Acknowledgements

This work was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship Program and Canada Research Chairs Program. The authors would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments.