AFP
Faced with global warming, Aude winegrowers are changing grape varieties to save wine
Under a crushing sun, the grapes of Corbières, in the Aude, begin to ripen… too quickly: with global warming, they are loaded with sugar and make more alcoholic wines, pushing some winegrowers to change grape varieties for later varieties.”Before, I said that a wine at 12 degrees was the rule and 12.5 the exception. Then it was 13, then 13.5. And then I said stop” , says Claude Vialade, 65. At the head of a trading house representing 1,500 hectares in the former Languedoc-Roussillon, she tried an experiment in 2009: to create a small vineyard resistant to global warming, using in particular grape varieties Portuguese and Spanish, Alvarinho and Verdejo, accustomed to high temperatures. “These grape varieties, which did not reach maturity in the south of France 25 years ago, have now found a favorite ground”, she assures. On the ten hectares of Château Cicéron, she is delighted to be able to control the alcohol and acidity of her wines more easily. European experimentation, replanting and waiting for the vines to be mature enough before making a first vinification, more than ten years later.- Early harvest – “I had to get out of a capitalist logic, it was possible because I had the trading house next door”, recognizes this descendant of a family of winegrowers whose father, Jean, was one of the emblematic activists of the Languedoc wine cause in the 1960s. Not all winegrowers can afford a such a bet: the harvest is thus done earlier and earlier, sometimes from the end of July. We then arrange with blends, because if the fruit is loaded with sugar, the pips are often not yet ripe and give an astringent taste to the wine.”Overall, in twenty years, the wines of the region have gained two degrees alcohol”, says Matthieu Dubernet, head of a group of oenological laboratories. About forty kilometers from Château Cicéron, Antoine Robert, manager of the Castelmaure cooperative, noticed that a variety of grapes, the carignan, ripened more later than the others and could be an asset to balance his wines. This variety, originally from Spain, was planted massively in the south of France from the beginning of the 20th century but, pushed to the limit for its yields, it gave wines without character. In the 1970s, it was largely uprooted and replaced in particular by Syrah, a grape variety from the Côtes du Rhône. – Between tradition and adaptation – “It was the enemy to be shot down. However, when you don’t do it + piss +, it gives quality wines”, assures Antoine Robert, 34. The director of the cooperative therefore decided last year to give bonuses to his winegrowers who replant them. With the help of the chamber of agriculture, he also found in his domain old varieties of carignan, sometimes over a hundred years old, and other forgotten grape varieties. He placed them in a “conservatory” plot, hoping to find there varieties adapted to the heat. The winegrowers nevertheless remain constrained if they want to remain in appellations: in AOC Corbières, those who work with Antoine Robert cannot plant more than 50% Carignan or use grape varieties that do not belong to the specifications. Claude Vialade, for his part, left appellations to switch to “vin de pays”. of Origin and Quality (INAO), has thus had to arbitrate for several years between preserving tradition and the need to adapt. “There is a relaxation of the rules”, assures Laurent Audeguin, in charge of research at the “plant material” pole of the French Institute of Vine and Wine (IFV). Some appellations thus open up to foreign, old or selected grape varieties to make them more resistant. In early July, the INAO announced that a small part (10%) of the volumes from experimental grape varieties could be used in blends within the appellations. “Faced with global warming, all irons are on the fire and we must not neglect no leads”, maintains Mr. Audeguin.cdc/ap/LyS
2023-07-31 00:56:56
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