Will British wine ever be cheap? We ask an expert

theguardian.com:

The preference for buying local may have seen sales of English and Welsh wine soar, but with the most affordable bottles not far off double the £6.34 UK average, could it be cheaper? I asked Sam Linter, director of WineGB – the association of English and Welsh winemakers – and managing director of Bolney Wine Estate in Sussex.

I remember reading some disturbingly cheery articles about English wine over the summer and how the rising temperatures are going to be great on that score. Obviously, it’s not great at all for the Earth’s climate to be like this – that is a huge worry.

It’s all very “last days of Rome”, isn’t it: sipping away as the world burns, thinking, “Well, at least the wine is good now … ” Also it’s more complicated. For example, this year spring was early, as it often is now with the climate crisis. That could be good, as it means we have a longer growing season. Vines start budding in April or May and we harvest in October. But if they start budding in March, when there’s still a risk of frost, they may not survive. Yes, hotter weather might be great for grapes, but the climate crisis also brings freak weather occurrences. And in some countries it’s been too hot for viticulture.

Yes, scientists are saying that much of France and Italy could become unsuitable for grape production by 2050. Is it just the weather that has traditionally stopped us growing more grapes in the UK? There are various reasons. When we all started planting in the 70s, we had to space the rows of vines farther apart than you’d see in other parts of Europe. That’s because we had a damper climate, so the vines needed more airflow. Now, with the changes to climate, we can plant closer together, so more vines per hectare, more yield.

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