Champagne's Baby Steps Towards Sustainability, Climate Change May Impact Wine's Health Benefits
Should Rhône grapes play a bigger role in a warmer, drier California?
A great piece by Essi Avellan MW in The World of Fine Wine looks at the Champagne region’s small, but concrete steps towards sustainability - including a tasting of organic and biodynamic certified examples. An academic paper published in Frontiers in Plant Science looks at how different site characteristics impact the ability of vineyards to sequester carbon. Jason Haas publishes an analytical blog post attempting to answer the question ‘what are the right grapes to future proof vineyards in California, and are Rhône grapes the best positioned?’ Becca Yeamans-Irwin looks at how climate change will impact the chemical composition of grapes and wine and if that will impact wine’s health benefits.
Sustainability
Champagne, France: Essi Avellan MW puts a positive spin on sustainability efforts in Champagne; known for its minimal progress and sometimes blatant greenwashing. The World of Fine Wine
Interestingly, plastic in the soil is still visible today from Boues de ville—urban waste— which was used as fertilizer in the vineyards from the 1970s onward, until it was finally banned in 1998.
In a study commissioned by the CIVC, there has been a 20% reduction in carbon emissions per bottle and a 50% reduction in the use of both phytosanitary products and nitrogen fertilizers since 2000.
A regional sustainability certification, VDC (Viticulture Durable en Champagne), was introduced in 2014. Today, 15% of the vineyard area falls under the certification.
In 2018, the Comité Champagne (CIVC) announced a zero-herbicides target, of which they now acknowledge little if any progress has been made, and they will be not attempt to enforce it.
In organic farming there has been some progress, particularly from a few key producers including Louis Roederer, the leading organic vine grower, with 115 certified hectares representing nearly 50% of its vineyard holdings and 12% of Champagne’s certified vineyards. 2021 figures show a total of 2,751ha, of which 1,790ha are in organic conversion, representing roughly 8% of the area.
Others producers of note include Leclerc Briant, whose entire 14 hectares follow both organic and biodynamic practices, and the pioneering biodynamic efforts of Champagne Fleury.
Most of Champagne’s organic production is realized by its numerous small growers, the number of domaines growing grapes organically or in conversion having risen to 598. The Aube department is proving particularly dynamic, with 481ha cultivated organically, of which 238ha are in conversion.
Interestingly she blind-tasted 37 wines from the region that are certified organic and/or biodynamic along with Sarah Marsh MW, and Anthony Rose. There was a wide divergence of opinion, with some tasters scoring wines as much as 10-points apart; however it must be noted it was a mixed bag of styles (vintage, NV etc).
Champagne, France: A short piece on how Piper-Heidsieck’s Chief Winemaker Emilien Boutillat drove the company to its recent B Corp certification. Drinks Trade
The Champagne house set a number of targets including minimizing carbon footprint by 46% by 2030 and launching an energy saving program to use 40% less energy by 2025, eliminating the use of fossil fuels in production activities
At 835g, Piper-Heidsieck has had the lightest bottle on the market since 2010 and it has used 100% renewable electricity since 2021.
The Piper Lab has implemented experiments in its vineyards including cover crops, organic farming and agroforestry. They have been certified by the VDC (Sustainable Viticulture in Champagne) and HVE 3 (High Environmental Value) since 2015; and do not use herbicides, pesticides or chemicals to treat rot.
Glendale Arizona: A recap of the Sustainable Agricultural Summit held last week, which allowed US farmers to exchange progress reports, ideas and concerns about the sustainability of agriculture. Forbes
The USDA’s Partnerships for Climate Smart Commodities grant program was addressed by Robert Bonnie the Under Secretary of Agriculture for Farm Production and Conservation.
He noted rural Americans and farmers care a great deal about the environment and are willing to take action, but prefer being part of a voluntary partnership approach rather than being subject to top-down government regulation or “unfunded mandates” by companies with leverage in agricultural markets such as food or retail brands.
Some of the biggest challenges “on the table” include:
water limitations in many regions
the need to recruit, train and financially enable the next generation of farmers
enabling farmer adoption of sustainable best-practices that require extra investment and/or risk
engaging absentee land owners in a way that allows for change
bridging the communication gap with the general public
Viticulture
California: An academic paper published in Frontiers in Plant Science titled, ‘Site characteristics determine the effectiveness of tillage and cover crops on the net ecosystem carbon balance in California vineyard agroecosystems’ looks at the potential for carbon (C) storage in vineyards.
To measure the potential for C storage in vineyards under varying sustainable soil management practices, they calculated the net ecosystem carbon balance (NECB) of three cover crops [perennial grass (Poa bulbosa hybrid cv. Oakville Blue); annual grass (barley, Hordeum vulgare); resident vegetation (natural weed population)] under conventional tillage (CT) and no-till (NT) management.
Results provided evidence that vineyards served as C sinks.
In sandy soils, the type of cover crop and tillage may be of little influence on the NECB. While in finer-textured soils, tillage reduced the NECB and higher biomass-producing cover crops enhanced the overall C storage potential of the vineyard agroecosystem.
Paso Robles: Jason Haas publishes an analytical post attempting to answer the question ‘what are the right grapes to future proof vineyards in California, and are Rhône grapes the best positioned?’ Tablas Creek Blog
He looks at the best-selling varietal wines in the US as of 2020 (Nielsen) which includes the usual suspects – Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir etc; noting there's a huge dropoff after the first few grapes, and a twelve-fold difference between #1 Cabernet and #8 Malbec.
For Paso Robles, a warm, dry region; the top grapes planted echo that of the state – with Cabernet Sauvignon comprising 49%; Haas points to evidence here that historically grapes were planted based on global demand, rather than what may work best for future climates.
He references the 1884 Ampelography of California written by Charles Wetmore, the state's first Chief Executive Viticultural Officer. In it, he explicitly tackles the question of the "adaptability to certain locations and uses" of the grapes known at that time in California. Wetmore praises Zinfandel and Mataro (Mourvedre) of which he said, "the Zinfandel and Mataro, each good bearers, will each become the favorite basis of our red wine vineyards." For cooler regions he recommends Trousseau for its "general adaptability and fine qualities." For drier regions he suggests Grenache, which he says "will succeed and flourish in arid places, where Zinfandel would fail."
Haas then looks at his own Rhône-driven production; noting they’re getting more requests through their grapevine nursery for high-acid grapes like Picardan than he can remember.
He concludes that if the rest of the world is looking to the grapes of the Rhône to help mitigate their own climate change concerns, it seems likely that Tablas Creek will be able to shift within their Rhône family to make sure that even as things get warmer and drier, they'll be able to make great wine.
Béziers, France: Solar panel manufacturer Sun'Agri held a tasting with wines grown under their solar panels at a recent trade fair. Vitisphere
Grenache Blanc, Chardonnay and Marselan grown under the panels were tasted against the same grape varieties and rootstocks with no protection from the sun. They were harvested by machine on the same day and fermented using the same protocol by the Chamber of Agriculture.
Attendees were asked to guess which wine came from the vines under the solar panels. “There are no big differences, but I think it's the one on the left. It has less color. On the nose, I find it finer, and on the palate, it is less tannic”, said one person. Others agreed and were proven right.
“Although 2021 was rainier than 2022, the grapes from the vines protected during periods of strong sunshine lost less acidity and had lower sugar levels and phenolic compounds”, noted the R&D manager.
Napa Valley, California: Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars has completed the first year of a 3-Year Organic Certification for the historic FAY and S.L.V. estate vineyards, which encompass 114 acres. Press Release via Wine Industry Advisor
The estate vineyards are on track to be certified organic in 2024. FAY and S.L.V. became certified transitional by the California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF) on November 15th.
Packaging
California: A detailed breakdown of compliance and fees for wine and spirits manufacturers subject to the newly passed legislation The California Beverage Container Recycling and Litter Reduction Act which hopes to achieve an 80% recycling rate for aluminum, bimetal, glass, and plastic beverage containers in the state. Avalara blog
Beginning January 1, 2024, direct wine shippers and other wine and spirits producers and distributors will be liable for the bottle fee; and need to register with the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) as a beverage manufacturer and a distributor.
Climate Change
Global: An interesting dive into wine’s health benefits and how climate change may impact that in the future. Meininger’s Wine Business International
Becca Yeamans-Irwin takes us first through the claims of health benefits – namely resveratrol, a polyphenol that requires ingestion in pill form to realize benefits, as consuming enough through drinking wine will likely kill you long before the health benefits kicked in.
While there are differences between studies, in general it has been shown that increasing temperatures have negative impacts on anthocyanin concentrations, as well as stilbene synthesis and concentration. Specifically, studies have shown that higher temperatures lead to the inhibition of the stilbene biosynthetic pathway, which means that higher temperatures prevent stilbenes from forming. Inconveniently for those advocating its health benefits, resveratrol is one such stilbene.
A recent study found that high relative humidity levels (~89%) and increased rainfall had a positive impact on trans-resveratrol levels (particularly in the spring), while on the other hand, increased spring and summer temperatures were associated with decreased trans-resveratrol concentrations.
She concludes - we will likely see very complex changes to wine grape composition and subsequent chemical composition of the resulting wine. The exact effects are still unknown and will continue to be only theories until more data is collected and analyzed.
Diversity & Equity
Napa, California: Hispanics in Wine, has announced the full schedule of events of their second annual “LatinX State of the Wine Industry” Summit, taking place on December 1, 2022 at RD Winery in Napa, California. Press Release via Wine Business