This year's late frosts have done severe damage to the vines in France. The damage is so severe that government assistance will be required. One severe weather event cannot be attributed to climate change and global warming, but climate scientists have been warning us for years that global warming not only affects rainfall with increasing temperatures, but it also causes unexpected fluctuations to the weather. It is quite possible that winters could become colder and wetter and summers could become warmer and drier. All sorts of unexpected variations are possible within the range of average global temperatures going up. What happens now, if this year the wine growers of France and other European areas experience severe heat and drought in summer? They could have a disaster on their hands, and a run of 4 or 5 bad growing seasons could ruin the wine industry.
It is not just France that has been affected, as many UK vineyards have been badly damaged too. Can UK growers expect generous government subsidies too? I shall leave you to answer that one.
https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2020/05/uk-vineyards-grapple-with-late-frost/
The Northern vineyards of Italy have also had their frost problems.
https://www.winespectator.com/articles/frost-strikes-vineyards-in-leading-italian-wine-region
Climat change needs to be tackled urgently, wine lovers do not want to taste wine that stems from grapes being grown under cloches or irrigated or artificially heated. Vines need nature; we can nurture the grapes but in the final analysis the vines need an equitable climate. Poorly grown grapes will produce poor wines.
It is ironic that research is being done to see how wines mature in space. What next, will research be done to see how grapes will grow without gravity and without weight to stretch the roots and the vine canes. Are some wine growers foreseeing a future where man leaves the planet Earth to inhabit Mars complete with his agriculture? This is a pie in the sky future. It might be best to look after our own planet first and reverse the damage of man made climate change. Let healthy vines produce healthy grapes and healthy wine.
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