Wine industry leading way on climate adaptation
A study has concluded many McLaren Vale wine producers are leading the world in preparing for future climate change.
It compared the region on Adelaide's southern outskirts with a French wine region, Roussillon, because of their climatic similarities.
Co-author and Adelaide University lecturer Douglas Bardsley said the average rainfall of both regions was expected to decline in the future, but average temperatures would climb.
He said McLaren Vale growers and winemakers were taking important steps to ensure they remained viable.
"They're trying new varieties, varieties from Spain for example which might be more adapted to a future drying climate," he said.
"Different types of irrigation regimes, the different ways of harvesting, of mulching, the different ways that they prune the plant so that berries are shaded during the very hot times of the day."
"Other agricultural industries and regions could learn from these activities."
Dr Bardsley said there were some producers refusing to make changes.
"Some grape growers and wine producers are discounting climate change and that's a risk, not only to this region but a risk to Australian agriculture in general, that people aren't recognising that these risks require long-term decision-making, not just short-term changes," he said.
"That could be a real challenge."
The McLaren Vale region of South Australia produces up to 70,000 tonnes of wine grapes annually.
Vineyards across South Australia have their teams of pickers working flat out to harvest this year's vintage, with many winemakers confident the quality will be high.
Angus Mitchell, a third-generation Clare Valley winemaker, said dry conditions were causing some concerns, but he was optimistic about the outlook for this year's vintage.
Last financial year, South Australia produced almost half the nation's wine.
Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed 609,000 million litres were produced in SA.
New South Wales was the second-largest producer, with more than 367,000 million litres, while Victoria produced more than 200,000 million litres.
In the past financial year, about 730,000 tonnes of grapes - more than 45 per cent of Australian production - were crushed in South Australia.
- Reporting by Alina Eacott and Clint Jasper
Topics: viticulture, agricultural-crops, rural, climate-change, environment, research, mclaren-vale-5171, adelaide-university-5005, adelaide-5000, sa, tanunda-5352, clare-5453, renmark-5341, australia, france