Chile became a New World wine producer to be reckoned with in the 1980s, when winemakers, such as Spain’s Miguel Torres, brought their production methods to the country. These efforts gave rise to the industry that now supplies markets in Europe, the U.S., and China. Combined with a climate that is much like the Mediterranean with hot days and cool nights, these innovations have helped see Chile’s wine production double in the last 15 years, with exports forecast to reach a value of $3 billion by 2020, up from the current value of $1.8 billion.

 

However, rising average temperatures and less rain have driven Chile’s winemakers to have to adopt new production methods and technologies, or in some cases, move production to wetter, cooler locations further south reports Reuters.

 

Given the grape varieties that are currently being used in Chile, these rising temperatures and climactic conditions will make quality assurance more and more difficult, Miguel Torres, whose company has 988 acres of vineyards in the country, told Reuters. Torres goes on to explain that while some crops, such as tomatoes, can continue to be planted in warmer temperatures, wine grape producers will have to seek out more heatand drought resitant varieties.

 

The wine producing valleys in the norther reaches of the country, such as the Elqui which is 500 kilometers north of Santiago and which account for 12% of Chile’s total wine producing acreage, are facing the most serious challenges. Eight years of drought have pushed some producers to stop watering sections of their vineyards, while the water left for the remaining acreage is often too saline, resulting in wines that are salty.

 

An increase of only one degree in average temperature results in producers having to adjust their harvest ahead by ten days. This shift results in grapes that have a high sugar content, but an incomplete tannin profile due to their immaturity.

 

Wine producers that have the available cash on hand are acting pre-emptively and are buying land in Southern Chile, which currently is not suitable for wine production due to high rainfall and cool temperatures, but is expected to be suitable in the future. Rainfall has fallen by between 20% and 30% in these more southerly regions and temperatures have grown milder over the past half century, according to meteorologists.

 

This push into new southern regions in response to climate change represents Chile’s advantage in the global wine industry. Compared to Old World production centers in European countries where there is little room or possibility of winemakers following more advantageous weather, Chile can offer its winemakers the ability to forge a new, southern winemaking frontier in regions such as Araucania, which had historically been known for its logging industry.