Monday, January 24, 2022

Where are Italy’s vineyard areas going?

In the wine industry, people have become increasingly aware of what can be called The Great Grape Migration, resulting from agricultural declines due to climate change (Diversity buffers winegrowing regions from climate change losses). Indeed, in the northern hemisphere,气候变化推动酿酒师北. There has been much less talk about the southern hemisphere; so, here I will look at the north only.

The issue is, of course, that grape varieties each have a set of temperature preferences (both upper and lower) for producing high-quality wine-making grapes. If the climate changes, then the best varieties in any given area likely also to change.


However, there is also another potential phenomenon in play. Entire vineyard areas might change in size, as they change their suitability for grape-growing (ie. net loss of area). This is a difficult idea to study, because there are many factors that affect the choice of vineyard locations. However, here I will look at some data that suggest that the phenomenon might be worth looking into in more detail.

We can start by looking at the recent decrease in vineyard area in the three biggest grape-growing countries of the world (although note that China is now seriously challenging them in size). The data for the first graph are taken fromIl Corriere Vinicolo: Vino in Cifre No. 11(2021).

Declining vineyard area in Europe

在所有三个地区,葡萄园地区本世纪一直在下降,直到c。2015年。对于意大利来说,减少为c。在2000年至2015年之间有20%,增加了c。从那以后的5%。上面引用的出版物明确指出,2009 - 2011年是在葡萄藤上砍伐的多年,并获得了官方赔偿。此外,自2016年以来,已经有一个用于葡萄园的许可系统。

So, where have the Italian vineyards gone? The same publication provides data for the eight regions (out of 21) with the largest vineyard areas, as shown in the second graph.

Changing vineyard area in Italy

显然,自世纪之交以来,西西里岛的最大下降是在西西里岛的30%。最大的增长是威尼托(Veneto)增长了40%,以及弗里利·吉利亚(Friuli Venezia Giulia),增长了45%。快速浏览地图将使您确信西西里岛是南部最南部地区,而其他两个地区则位于意大利北部。确实,与特伦蒂诺·阿尔托·阿迪格(Trentino Alto Adige)(上升11%)一起,它们覆盖了意大利东北部的白云岩山,从而提供了一些高度。另一个大型意大利北部地区(伦巴第塔,皮埃蒙特)位于平坦的西部山丘上,那里的葡萄园地区没有太大变化。

One could possibly see this as a move towards higher-quality wines; and this bears looking into. Much of the reduction in Sicily has been in the south-western corner, in the Marsala region, well-known in the past for favoring high production of somewhat oxidized wines. On the other hand, places like Mount Etna have been booming (西西里奶油加热(葡萄酒)).

However, this does not mean that good-quality wines cannot be made in the south-west of Sicily, or anywhere on the island, for that matter (eg. seeSicily is Italy’s leading wine region — here’s why).


Indeed, from the south-west I particularly like the Grillo Parlante white, from Fondo Antico. This is a pun name, as “grillo” is the Italian name of both a grape variety and crickets. Il Grillo Parlante (The Talking Cricket) appeared (un-named) in Carlo Collodi’s (1883) bookLe Avventure di Pinocchio— he acquired a name in the (1940) Disney moviePinocchio. Fondo Antico also produces Memorie Rosato, which is a rosé that is not released until it is 5 years old — not many companies would try that!

Anyway, it will be interesting to see how the vineyard areas of Italy continue to relocate, and just how much of the impetus comes from climate change, as opposed to changing tastes in preferred wine styles. There is also the issue that意大利酒精的总体消费正在减少; but that is a separate topic.