Viticulture
Frost and weather hazards
The events that can destroy a crop, and what growers do about them.
Overview
Spring frost after budburst kills the new growth and can eliminate most of a crop overnight. Defences include wind machines, heaters, helicopters, and sprinklers that coat buds in ice — which sounds counter-intuitive but works, because water releases heat as it freezes and holds the bud at 0°C.
Hail can destroy a vineyard in minutes and is highly localised. Some regions use anti-hail netting or cloud seeding, with mixed evidence for the latter.
Rain at flowering causes poor fruit set; rain at harvest dilutes flavour and encourages rot.
Drought and heat spikes are increasingly the dominant risks in warm regions, causing vines to shut down and fruit to shrivel or sunburn.
Sources
Sources consulted
- WSET educational materials and the Systematic Approach to Tasting — Wine & Spirit Education Trust
- INRAE — French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment — INRAE
More in the vineyard
Viticulture
Climate and wine style
The largest single influence on what a wine tastes like — larger than grape, producer or winemaking, and the reason the same variety is unrecognisable in two places.
Viticulture
Climate change and wine
Warming is already reshaping where wine is grown and what it tastes like.
Viticulture
Harvest and picking decisions
When to pick — the single most consequential decision a producer makes each year.