The impact of global warming on Ontario’s icewine industry

Abstract

Ontario’s wine regions lie at the climatic margins of commercial viticulture owing to their cold winters and short cool growing season. The gradual warming of northern latitudes projected under a human-induced climate change scenario could bring mixed benefits to these wine regions. On the one hand, climate change could moderate the severity of winter temperatures and extend the growing season and on the other, it could be jeopardize the production of internationally renowned icewines for which Canada is famous. This paper examines the trends in winter temperatures over the last forty years for the Niagara Peninsula wine region in Ontario. The study analyzes the occurrences of temperatures ≤ -8o C in the months of November, December, January and February in which the frozen grapes are normally picked. The results of trend analysis showed a high degree of variability along with a weak declining trend in the number of picking days. Two major risks to icewine grapes are prolonged warm and wet conditions that could lead to rot and secondly, destruction of the crop by bird predators. The study also discussed the potential use of weather contracts to mitigate these risks.

DOI:

Publication date: November 22, 2021

Issue: Terroir 2010

Type: Article

Authors

D. Cyr (1) and T.B. Shaw (2)

(1) Department of Finance, Operations and Information Systems & Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute, Brock University, St. Catharines Ontario, Canada, L2S 3A1
(2) Department of Geography & Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute, Brock University, St. Catharines Ontario, Canada, L2S 3A1

Contact the author

Keywords

climate change, Ontario, icewine, impacts, weather contracts

Tags

IVES Conference Series | Terroir 2010

Citation

Related articles…

Relation entre les caractéristiques des fromages d’Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée et les facteurs de production du lait

Les fromages d’Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (AOC) représentent un enjeu économique important pour la filière laitière (11 % des fromages produits en France sont des fromages d’AOC, et dans certaines régions de montagne, cette proportion dépasse 50 %). Les spécificités de ces fromages et leurs liaisons avec les caractéristiques du terroir constituent un système complexe où interagissent en particulier la technologie fromagère et les caractéristiques des laits (composition chimique en particulier). Ces dernières dépendent elles-mêmes des caractéristiques des animaux (origine génétique, facteurs physiologiques, état sanitaire) et de leur mode de conduite (alimentation, hygiène, traite…) (fig. 1). L’influence de ces facteurs de production (alimentation et type d’animal en particulier) sur les caractéristiques des fromages est fréquemment mise en avant par les fromagers, sur la base d’observations empiriques. Il existe cependant très peu de travaux expérimentaux sur le sujet, en raison, entre autres, de la difficulté de séparer correctement les effets propres de ces facteurs d’amont de ceux liés à la technologie fromagère.

How are canned wine drinkers perceived? An investigation involving Swiss nationals and different scenarios of outdoor leisure activities

This study examines how people who consume wine in cans are perceived in terms of their basic personality characteristics, helps understand the role of cultural background on people’s perception, and verify the role played by the consumption context on the perception. Our hypothesis is that prejudice and negative attitudes towards wine in cans might exert a negative effect on the evaluation of people who consume canned wine. To evaluate this hypothesis, the consumption of wine in cans was evoked in four different contexts of use during outdoor leisure activity (beach resort, ski resort, desert safari, and party). In order to examine the effect of culture on subject’s response we use participants from Switzerland, a country where three different cultures, associated with three different languages, cohabit.

Environmental protection by means of (“Great”) vitiviniculture zonation

In the paper is discussed the first example of environmental protection, agreed in a wide term sense, by means of vitiviniculture zonations performed in Istria (Croatia) in the area of Butoniga lake

The rootstock, the neglected player in the scion transpiration even during the night

Water is the main limiting factor for yield in viticulture. Improving drought adaptation in viticulture will be an increasingly important issue under climate change. Genetic variability of water deficit responses in grapevine partly results from the rootstocks, making them an attractive and relevant mean to achieve adaptation without changing the scion genotype. The objective of this work was to characterize the rootstock effect on the diurnal regulation of scion transpiration. A large panel of 55 commercial genotypes were grafted onto Cabernet Sauvignon. Three biological repetitions per genotype were analyzed. Potted plants were phenotyped on a greenhouse balance platform capable of assessing real-time water use and maintaining a targeted water deficit intensity. After a 10 days well-watered baseline period, an increasing water deficit was applied for 10 days, followed by a stable water deficit stress for 7 days. Pruning weight, root and aerial dry weight and transpiration were recorded and the experiment was repeated during two years. Transpiration efficiency (ratio between aerial biomass and transpiration) was calculated and δ13C was measured in leaves for the baseline and stable water deficit periods. A large genetic variability was observed within the panel. The rootstock had a significant impact on nocturnal transpiration which was also strongly and positively correlated with maximum daytime transpiration. The correlations with growth and water use efficiency related traits will be discussed. Transpiration data were also related with VPD and soil water content demonstrating the influence of environmental conditions on transpiration. These results highlighted the role of the rootstock in modulating water deficit responses and give insights for rootstock breeding programs aimed at identifying drought tolerant rootstocks. It was also helpful to better define the mechanisms on which the drought tolerance in grapevine rootstocks is based on.

Pioneering dynamic AgriVoltaics in viticulture: enhancing grapevine productivity, wine quality and climate protection through agronomical steering in a large-scale field study

Context and purpose of the study. Climate change threatens traditional winegrowing regions, with about 90% of areas like southern France at risk by the end of the century due to heatwaves and droughts.