The Effects of Global Warming on Champagne Production

1
The Effects of Global Warmingon Champagne
Production

• Lemi Giudice, Jo Lin,
• Leopold Meyer, Timothy Minerd,
• Alex Whitcomb

2
Champagne Basics

• Microclimate
• Soil composition
• Temperature
• Terrain

http//www.rudilechners.com/images/france_wine_reg
ions.gif
3
Relationship BetweenTemperature and Harvest Date
(Chuine 2004)
4
Relationship BetweenTemperature and Champagne
Quality

• During the final weeks of maturation
• Sugars increase
• Acids decrease
• The bouquet develops
• Climate dictates the rate these changes take
  place.
• Discrepancies in temperature during these final
  weeks can make or break the vintage.

5
Impact on Global Wine Production

• Southern England
• United States
• Mosel Region, Germany

6
Take Away Concepts

• Fragility of microclimate even a small change in
  one of the climate variables would threaten the
  microclimates existence
• Méthode champenoise (champagne method) may be
  replicated worldwide, but terroir could never be
  synthesized.
• Champagne is just one potential casualty of
  global warming.