Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/718029
28 WINES&VINES September 2016 Viewpoint I f I had to pick a byword for the ninth International Cool Climate Wine Symposium in Brighton, England, it would simply be "change." Changes in climate, in grape cultivars, in wine styles, in consumer markets—the transitory nature of cool-climate wine was addressed in venues ranging from technical scientific talks to hands-on digital marketing techniques to compara- tive tastings of wine styles and varietals during the conference held May 26-28. Such change is even evident in the 2016 symposium venue; as British wine writer Jancis Robinson said in her key- note address, ICCWS was the "first seri- ous academic wine meeting in the British Isles." The modern wine industry in England and Wales really gained ground in the mid-1980s, when changes in average temperatures and production styles prompted the planting and production of V. vinifera-based sparkling wines. The distinctly English sparkling style, which Rob- inson called "hedgerow in a g l a s s , " h a s i n c r e a s i n g l y changed the opinion of a consumer base used to being the wine importers of the world, and the increasingly favor- able climate has drawn investment from Champagne and further afield. As a representative of emerging cool-climate regions, the English market is a rosy-cheeked, effervescent poster child. If climate change is creating new regions, how- ever, it's also creating significant challenges in existing regions. There are no climate-change deniers in wine-production circles, and at ICCWS the concept was so ingrained in discussions of risks and rewards that it was often referenced casually, as an ac- cepted fact. The good news, according to a presentation about emerging cool- climate regions by Greg Jones (professor at Southern Oregon University) and Hans Shultz (president of Geisenheim University in Germany) is that grape- vines are generally very adaptive to s h i f t s i n t e m p e r a t u r e , s o s l i g h t changes won't directly impact them. However, other climatic effects such as changes in precipitation distribu- tion may have huge effects in terms n ANNA KATHARINE MANSFIELD Cool-Climate Growers and Winemakers Need a Big Toolbox Dr. Hans Schultz, president of Geisenheim University in Germany, talks about emerging cool-climate regions.