Climate change continues to benefit Champagne producers in terms of quality, although volumes are feeling the pinch.
In this month’s issue of Global Drinks Intel magazine, Clemont Pierlot, chef de cave at Champagne Pommery in Rheims, warns that the earlier budburst for grapes grown in the region is increasing the risk of spring frost damage. At the same time, more intense bouts of bad weather coupled with higher temperatures are leading to more cases of mildew.
The net result, according to Pierlot, is higher quality grapes for Champagne, although agronomic yields are deteriorating.
A spokesperson for Moët Hennessy, which owns the Dom Perignon and Krug Champagne houses, among others, tells the magazine that average temperatures in the Champagne region have risen by 1.1°C over the last 30 years. “The … region is already experiencing increasingly unstable climactic conditions,” the spokesperson said.
Earlier this year, Moët Hennessy hosted the debut ‘World Living Soils Forum’ in Arles on France’s south coast.
The September issue of Global Drinks Intel magazine has been published this week. For more details, including how to subscribe to Global Drinks Intel, click here.
