Global warming

By Melissa Donchi
NEW CSIRO Research has predicted a sour future for Australian wine grapes as a result of climate change.
In a worst-case scenario, it says rising temperatures could cause the quality of Australian wine grapes to be reduced and the area planted for grapes cut by 40 per cent.
The new findings were detailed in a report, Climate Change Impacts on Australian Viticulture, which was presented to the Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference in Adelaide earlier this month.
President of the Central Highlands Alliance Sarah Rees welcomed the findings describing the health of viticulture as inextricably linked to the local climate.
“Therefore we have a right to demand that our leaders ratify Kyoto and set earnest targets for reductions otherwise within two decades our trade mark pinot will no longer be viable in the Valley,” Ms Rees said.
But not everyone agrees with the gloomy news.
Ridgeline Winemaker and Yarra Yering Vineyard manager Mark Haisma described the talk about global warming as “hysterical scare mongering”.
“There has been global warming for around 400 years,” Mr Haisma said.
“To say now that human activity is going to halve the quality of Australian grapes is an easy way to sell papers and make names.
“The truth is we don’t know what is going to happen to the figures because quality varies by huge amounts.”
Domaine Chandon Winemaker Matt Steel was also hesitant to claim the end was nigh for Yarra Valley winemakers.
“Here in the Yarra Valley we have always been adaptable to change and can always find different varieties and places,” Mr Steel said.
“While the variety will change the quality will always stay the same.”
But local environment group C4 believes agricultural industries should be doing more to plan for the future.
“It’s pretty well established that global warming is happening and we should be planning our business and activities around it,” C4 spokesperson Sera Blair said.
“It is better to plan for these changes than ignore them.”