You can book a wine-tasting trip to Washington state now … or you can wait a few decades. By then, thanks to rising temperatures, the Pacific Northwest may have gained close to 80,000 square miles of vineyard-friendly space. (Sad fact: Much of that land is currently home to grizzly bears and wolves.) In this superheated future, though, most varietals will find life in 60 percent of California’s grape-growing regions to be more difficult. That’s according to Lee Hannah, a biologist with Conservation International. He combined three methods of assessing wine grape suitability to map the influence of climate change on the planet’s viticultural areas. Places like Mediterranean Europe, South Africa, and Australia will struggle too, while higher latitudes and elevations will get a boost, including parts of New Zealand and northern Europe. Sure, vineyards will adapt: Shadier trellising may help, and wineries can plant varietals that do well in hotter weather. Get ready to drink a lot more Zinfandel.
It’s going to get harder to grow wine grapes here
These areas will remain suitable
Growing good grapes will get easier in these regions
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