- Title: Warming climate puts Austria's wine at risk
- Date: 16th October 2019
- Summary: NEAR LANGENLOIS, AUSTRIA (OCTOBER 14, 2019) (REUTERS) HAND PICKING AND POPPING GRAPE WINE MAKER WILLI BRUENDLMAYER WALKING THROUGH VINEYARD BRUENDLMAYER WALKING THROUGH VINEYARD (SOUNDBITE) (German) WINE MAKER WILLI BRUENDLMAYER SAYING: "Our classic types are the Gruener Veltliner and Riesling. These we harvest now four weeks earlier than we did in my youth. With various measures we manage to grow the typical Gruener Veltliner and Riesling, but if it continues like this, the global warming will develop into a global catastrophe and we'll lose our classical types and much of our identity." BRUENDLMAYER WALKING THROUGH VINEYARD (SOUNDBITE) (German) WINE MAKER WILLI BRUENDLMAYER SAYING: "I hope that that global warming will not turn into a full-blown climate catastrophe for us." VIEW OF VINEYARD MAN DRIVING SUV THROUGH VINEYARD VIEW OF VINEYARD THROUGH CAR WINDOW VIEW INSIDE CAR OF BRUENDLMAYER DRIVING HILLSIDE VIEW OF VINEYARD, TOWN IN DISTANCE BRUENDLMAYER WALKING THROUGH VINEYARD HAND HOLDING CLUSTER OF GRAPES (SOUNDBITE) (German) WINE MAKER WILLI BRUENDLMAYER SAYING: "These days, when we plant a new vineyard, we must consider what climate we may have in 50 years. The shoots live 100 years, so we're increasingly moving to types that are more resistant to heat. We're known for light, fresh Gruener Veltliners and Riesling, but how long are we going to be able to produce these light wines? That's why we started planting red vines, such as this Cabernet Franc, which can stand the heat better than the Gruener Veltliner and Riesling." SIGN READING, IN GERMAN: "WINERY BRUENDLMAYER" VARIOUS OF WINE BARRELS IN WINE CELLAR VENT ON WINE BARREL, GAS POPPING THROUGH WHITE WINE IN SYPHON VIENNA, AUSTRIA (OCTOBER 15, 2019) (REUTERS) OWNER OF 1130 VINOTHEQUE, ROBERT SPONER-TRIULZI, IN STORE UNPACKING CARDBOARD BOX OF WINE BOTTLES MAN PLACING BOTTLE ON SHELF BRUENDLEMAYER WINE BOTTLES ON SHELF (SOUNDBITE) (German) OWNER OF 1130 VINOTHEQUE, ROBERT SPONER-TRIULZI, SAYING: "The Gruener Veltliner is linked with Austria, it is our most-exported brand. However, the warming climate seriously threatens it and many wine makers, particularly in Wachau and the Kamp Valley already began mulling what to plant if it becomes too warm for the Gruener Veltliner." HANDS OPENING BOTTLE, POURING WINE INTO GLASS HANDS PLACING BOTTLES INTO CARDBOARD BOX WINE IN GLASS
- Embargoed: 30th October 2019 16:09
- Keywords: Austria Wine Climate Gruener Veltliner
- Location: NEAR LANGENLOIS / VIENNA, AUSTRIA
- City: NEAR LANGENLOIS / VIENNA, AUSTRIA
- Country: Austria
- Topics: Environment
- Reuters ID: LVA001B1CK6ZD
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: One of Austria's leading wine-growing regions, which helped the environmentalist Green party to the threshold of power in the elections last month, has one demand for the new government: save the country's most famous tipple.
A rapidly heating climate threatens Austria's best-known wine, the Gruener Veltliner.
This wine put the Alpine country back on the map after a scandal involving antifreeze contaminated wine nearly ruined its reputation three decades ago.
The Gruener Veltiner grape makes a dry white wine which has become popular, not only in the open-air Heuriger taverns of Vienna, but also in hip bars from New York to New Zealand.
Rising temperatures affect the sprouting, flowering and maturity of the grapevines.
The higher the temperature, the higher the sugar and alcohol content of the grapes, affecting the wine's quality. That spells trouble for winemakers because temperatures have risen 2 degrees in Austria since 1880, more than twice the global average.
Willie Bruendlmayer, one of Austria's best-known winemakers, spoke to Reuters about how climate change threatens some of Austria's grape varieties.
The Gruener Veltliner is by far the most important grape variety in Austria, accounting for more than a third of vineyard plantings, and is the main wine export. While red wine grapes love warmth, the Veltliner loses its freshness and fine aromas.
On average, 2.5 million hectolitres of wine are produced in Austria, mostly for domestic consumption. It exported almost 53 million litres worth 170 million euros ($188 million) in 2018, with Germany the most important market.
Bruendlmayer has vineyards that grace the hills of Lower Austria province in the town of Langenlois. In this region the Greens more than trebled their share of the vote in parliamentary elections in September, opening the door for coalition talks with Sebastian Kurz's conservatives.
Kurz has not yet expressed a preference for a partner, and bridging policy differences with the Greens will not be easy. Tackling climate change is not among Kurz's priorities, and his People's Party (OVP) has ruled out a carbon tax that the Greens favour.
(Production: Leo Foeger, Suzana Sabljic) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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