IPCC High-End Case Would Make Southern UK Too Warm For Wine Grapes, Study Notes - Bloomberg

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May 26 (Bloomberg) -- Winemaking in the U.K. is being affected by global warming, and some of the nation's southern regions may become too hot to grow wine grapes by 2080 if the phenomenon continues unabated, said Richard Selley, a retired professor of geology at London's Imperial College.

Selley used scenarios for climate change devised by the government-funded U.K. Climate Impacts Programme to predict possible trends for future winemaking. The 4.5 to 5 degrees Celsius (8.1 to 9 Fahrenheit) warming envisaged by one scenario would make the Thames and Severn valleys too hot, while the shores of Scotland's Loch Ness would be suitable for some grapes.

``You'll have Manchester merlot, Sheffield shiraz and there'll be Riesling on the slopes of Snowdonia,'' Selley said May 23 in a telephone interview, referring to the cities in northern England and to the northern Welsh mountain range. ``The north shore of Loch Ness will be fantastic for cool-climate grapes.''

Global warming may change the winemaking map of Europe because different types of grapes are best suited to certain climates. As temperatures warm, the geographical spread of grape varieties is moving northwards and uphill. In Britain, the changes are already being seen, Selley said. ``We're now moving from Germanic to French grape varieties,'' Selley said. ``We're now producing what is champagne, only we can't call it champagne.''

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