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Climate change in a historical context
The origins of wine production are now thought to date back to the Neolithic period, around 8500 to 3000 BC. Similar to beer production, the origin of wine is also assumed to be the accidental fermentation of fresh wild grapes. Not only grape juice from wild grapes was proven by grape seed finds in jugs, but laboratory tests also prove the tartaric acid and tartaric acid (potassium hydrogen tartrate) produced during fermentation. Evidence for this was found in archaeological excavation sites in Georgia or, for example, in the Zagros Mountains in the western Caucasus.
The biblical, so-called "Noah hypothesis" is also popular, which sees Noah as the first planter of a vineyard when he landed on Mount Ararat in eastern Turkey after the Flood. In any case, controlled viticulture spread south of the Mediterranean via Egypt and north via present-day Turkey to Greece.
There is no evidence of viticulture in Europe at this time, but the existence of the wild vine has been proven.
Through archaeological findings, wild grapevines can be dated even further into the past; an age of just over 80 million years has been proven by fossil finds.
The Romans brought viticulture from the Mediterranean to their northern provinces (Photo: Maksym Kaharlytskyi, Unsplash)Controlled viticulture
Conscious wine production required settling down and planned cultivation combined with the invention of preservation methods.
The long-term result of this cultivation and breeding was the so-called "wine-bearing vine", the "Vitis Vinifera", which is still the basis of the best-known grape varieties such as Riesling, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay or Pinot Noir.
In fact, this cultivation took place via Greece throughout the Mediterranean until the fall of the Roman Empire at the end of the 5th century. In the course of the conquests and settlements of foreign territories, viticulture found its way into new regions. While the Greeks brought it with them from their colonisation of Egypt in 300 BC, viticulture in France, Germany, Hungary and southern England dates back to Roman settlements.
To supply the Roman legions, viticulture reached as far as the Moselle and the Rhine during the Gallic War (Photo: Fabian, Unsplash)The spread of viticulture in Germany
Wine as a liturgical component consolidated its position not least through the declaration of Christianity as the state religion in 380 by the Eastern Roman Emperor Theodosius I.
By the end of the 8th century, wine was already a drink of the upper classes in Charlemagne's time. However, it was primarily produced by the Church, the monasteries and bishops to cover their needs for mass wine. Viticulture was particularly promoted by the Church, as the surplus from sales contributed significantly to the upkeep of the monasteries and amounted to three quarters of the income at high times.
Nevertheless, there were a considerable number of vineyards owned by nobles and princes. Wine was partly grown for sale, partly for personal consumption and serving at banquets.
For a long time, Germany was not one of the great wine-growing nations; Italy, France or Spain were considered the classic European countries.
Along the Danube, the Moselle and the Rhine, the first large-scale centres emerged, establishing the good reputation of "Rhine wine", among other things.
In 1135, Cistercian monks brought Pinot Noir from Burgundy to Eberbach Monastery in the Rheingau. Today's Pinot Noir was known as Klebrot at the time. It was "the" Franconian wine of the Carolingian Empire, which dominated viticulture in the Middle Ages.
Riesling was already being cultivated in the Rhine region in the 15th century, first mentioned near Worms in 1490, other sources mention the year 1402.
German trading centres grew, and around 1600 the largest area of winegrowing in Germany ever occurred. The largest producer was the Electorate of Mainz on the Middle Rhine with the Cistercian monastery in Eberbach.
Detail from Hendrick Avercamp's "Ice Pleasure", depictions of this kind are known from the period between 1565 and 1640, the "Little Ice Age". (Public domain image)Caesura: 30-year war and reverse climate change
Due to the devastation of the war, large parts of the wine-growing areas were destroyed. In addition, it was cheaper to produce beer, and it could also be preserved with hops.
After the war, the prosperous, large church centres of Trier, Speyer, Worms, Mainz, Würzburg and Bamberg in particular established themselves.
In 1672, the Abbot of St. Clara in Mainz, who controlled the vineyards, ordered all the vines, especially red wine, to be pulled out and Riesling planted; the Bishop of Speyer also prescribed Riesling in the Palatinate. Likewise, the Benedictine monastery of St. Maximin in Trier cleared forest areas on the Moselle and had Riesling planted. Johannisberg Monastery in the Rheingau (as a major competitor to Eberbach Monastery) built a castle in 1716 and had the southern slope facing the Rhine planted with 200,000 Riesling vines over five years. Other, allegedly inferior grape varieties were not allowed to be planted under threat of punishment.
These were the first efforts to cultivate only one grape variety in the vineyard, as previously the so-called "Gemischter Satz" prevailed, in which a wide variety of grape varieties could be found in one vineyard.
Whether the inferiority of other grape varieties was the decisive factor for the clearing of red grape varieties or, above all, the climatic changes of that time, can only be conjectured, however.
From as early as 1450 until around 1850, there were signs of a reverse climate change in the form of the so-called "Little Ice Age". Vines only ripened in favoured, mainly southern locations, the vineyards destroyed in the 30 Years' War were only rebuilt in the best locations, and the wine-growing area shrank to a core area that roughly corresponds to today.
Climate change due to rising temperatures
Today, we know the climate change of the last decades exclusively through rising temperatures. For some years now, this has required winegrowers to rethink their approach to planting new vineyards, aligning them and planting grape varieties that can withstand rising temperatures. Whereas in the 1970s it was unthinkable to harvest ripe grapes on a north-facing slope, today vintners are looking for sites that are not exclusively exposed to heat so that they can continue to grow traditional grape varieties such as Riesling.
Heat and drought stress influence the growing season. Determining the optimal ripeness for the wine and the resulting optimal harvest time is becoming increasingly difficult.
The time for harvesting has come when the must weight has reached a balanced ratio to acidity (Photo: Lasseter Winery, Unsplash)The perfect harvest time
The time of harvest requires the greatest possible coordination to find out the perfect physiological ripeness of the grape. The time at which the highest possible sugar accumulation (must weight) is in balance with the declining acidity is determined.
This physiological ripeness, a state that the grape reaches during natural ripening, is nowadays often used to determine the optimal point in time, which can only be approximated by conventional measuring methods.
Due to the cultivation of usually several vineyards and the different ripening of the vines in a single vineyard due to the microclimate, determining the optimal harvest time is not easy for winegrowers.
Different grape varieties ripen at different times, unripe harvests with resulting herbaceous notes should be avoided as well as overripe harvests with high alcohol content and possibly brandy-like marmalade aromas.
Climate change also offers opportunities for viticulture: grape varieties from southern regions are now ripening in Germany (Photo: Moritz Knoringer, Unsplash)Alternatives for rising temperatures
According to the overview of the German Wine Institute, there has not been a mediocre year in Germany since 1992 at the latest. To date, good and very good vintages reflect the increasing warming and thus the guarantee of consistent ripeness of the grapes.
This also offers opportunities for viticulture. Especially red grape varieties from southern regions, such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah or Tempranillo, are now ripening in Germany.
New grapevine varieties are known as PiWi. So-called fungus-resistant varieties defy rainy weather through little or no susceptibility to rot or offer clear alternatives through early ripening as well as resistance to heat.
The vegetation period is also extended. Vines sprout earlier and are therefore more susceptible to spring frost. Physiological ripeness occurs earlier and earlier harvest dates are unavoidable. Heavy rainfall also increases the risk of mildew.
Nevertheless, in order to preserve the cultural landscape in viticulture and the associated preservation of traditional, historically-established grape varieties, the winegrower's sure instinct will continue to be required in the future, not only during harvesting, but also when working in the vineyard.
