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49 °F 5 Day Forecast Saturday, November 29, 2003 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | eSouthernOregon | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find a Rental Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Email Story to a Friend November 12, 2003 Grapes follow climate Geographer says Southern Oregon summers will be hotter and longer, maybe boosting the wine industry By BILL KETTLER Mail Tribune If an Ashland geographer’s findings hold true, vineyards may soon spread across southern England, and Southern Oregon could displace California’s Napa Valley as a premier source of fine red wines. Wine lovers and grape growers on five continents are talking about a paper that Greg Jones presented last week at the Geological Society of America’s annual convention. Jones’ analysis of climate data indicates that a steady warming trend during the past 50 years has helped vintners produce consistently better wines around the world. More importantly, Jones says, computer models suggest summers will get longer and hotter over the next half century, creating better growing conditions for wine grapes in cooler regions and making warmer regions less hospitable for wine grapes. "In general Southern Oregon will benefit," says Jones, a professor of geography at Southern Oregon University, but warmer, longer summers and shorter, milder winters may create new problems for local viticulturists. Mountain snowpack could shrink, reducing the available supply of water for irrigation at the same time that warmer summers force growers to pump more water to their vines. Shorter, milder winters may provide better conditions for insect pests and diseases that prey on the grapes. Advertisement Jones worked with Michael White of Utah State University and Owen Cooper of the University of Colorado. He delivered their paper, "Climate Change and Global Wine Quality," at the geologists’ conference in Seattle. The trio’s analysis of 50 years of climate data from 27 grape-growing regions showed an average temperature increase of 2 degrees Centigrade (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) from 1950 to 1999. He and his colleagues looked at a wine-ranking scale developed by Sotheby’s (the London auction house) to assess whether the quality of wine had changed. While they acknowledged that wine- making techniques have improved over the decades, they also found a general improvement in vintage ratings across the board, which they attribute, at least in part, to warmer weather. "If you talk to anybody who works in the wine industry, they’ll tell you climate is the determining factor," he says. "Some even say, ‘The wine is made in the field. All we do is not screw it up.’ " Warmer weather of the past half century generally has encouraged better wines because grapes have a long growing season. Warmer temperatures have helped extend the growing season in many areas where wine grapes historically have been vulnerable to frosts in late spring or early fall. There’s a limit to the benefits of warmer weather, however, especially in areas where summers are already long and hot. Jones says more heat could make some grapes in those regions develop too much sugar, and growers might have to harvest their crops before the grapes develop their full flavor. That could bode ill for wine regions that are already hot, such as Italy’s famous Chianti area and California’s Central Valley. The extra heat probably won’t cause problems in cooler regions, he says, and could encourage viticulture in areas where it has been rare or nonexistent. Wine grapes are already returning to southern England, where vines were grown before the "Little Ice Age" — a global cold spell that began around 1500 and ended between 1850 and 1900. Jones says he expected plenty of interest in his paper, given all the talk in recent years about global climate change and wine’s growing popularity, but he did not anticipate the news media’s reaction. He was barraged with e-mails, telephone calls and interview requests after his presentation, and he talked with reporters from magazines, newspapers and radio stations across the United States and around the world. "I had a guy call me from Scotland," he says. "He wanted to know if he was going to be able to grow grapes in Glasgow." Reach reporter Bill Kettler at 776-4492, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2003 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback 3 WEEKS FREE! ADVERTISERS SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Real Estate Showcase Food for Thought Hike of the Week Wellness Connection Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Openings Prime Times