Winemakers from Europe to Australia and China seek best climate change grapes

Winemakers around the world are planting or reviving little-known, sometimes nearly extinct grape varieties, which may fare better as the planet heats up

Counoise, vaccarèse, mencía, picpoul blanc and cabernet Pfeffer could become more familiar than the likes of chardonnay, pinot noir and sauvignon blanc

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Vintners around the world are looking at grape varieties that will cope better with climate change. Photo: SCMP

Published: 2:30am, 11 Jan 2023

Last year you may have tasted your way through any number of well-known wine grape varieties, whether cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay, pinot noir or sauvignon blanc.

In the future, however, are the drinking delights of less familiar names: counoise, vaccarèse, mencía, picpoul blanc and cabernet Pfeffer.

Winemakers from California, Texas, Europe and South America are planting or reviving these little-known, sometimes nearly extinct varieties.

Part of their aim is to save the world’s wine-growing heritage. But the biggest reason they are championing these grapes is because they may fare better in a changing climate than popular ones like temperature-sensitive pinot noir.

French red and rose wine grapes in the Rhône Valley. Photo: Shutterstock

Take counoise, for example, one of the 13 varieties permitted in Châteauneuf-du-Pape blends in France’s Rhône Valley. Growers abandoned it because the grapes only mature late in a growing season, so in cooler years they did not fully ripen. And they are susceptible to various diseases including gray rot.