Terroir 2010 banner

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.

Download the PDF

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…

Oenological performances of new white grape varieties

The wine industry works to minimize pesticides and adapt to climate change. Breeding programs have developed disease-resistant grape varieties, particularly against downy and powdery mildew, to minimize pesticide applications [1]. However, their enological potential remains underexplored.
Read More

Remote sensing applications in viticulture: recent advances and new opportunities

Remote sensing applications in viticulture have been a research theme now for nearly two decades, becoming a valuable tool for vineyard management. Metrics produced using remotely sensed images of vineyards have yielded relationships with grape quality and yield that can help optimise vineyard performance

Read More

Estudio de fertilidad en variedades blancas en Castilla-la Mancha

La adaptación de nuevas variedades a zonas de cultivo fuera de su área de origen presenta múltiples interrogantes. En Castilla-La Mancha se está produciendo en los últimos años una gran inquietud por la diversificación y la reconversión de variedades.

Read More

Water and physiological response to early leaf removal of cv. Verdejo in rainfed conditions, at different times of the day, in the D.O. Rueda (Spain)

Aim: Early leaf removal, generally applied before flowering, is mostly conceived as a technique to control grape yield and improve the health of grapes and focused on the final objective of increasing wine quality.

Read More

Colloids in red wines: new insights from recent research

Despite their significant impact on wine quality and stability, colloids in red wine remain relatively under-researched. A series of studies, developed in the context of the d-wines project, aimed to provide a comprehensive understanding of the structure, composition, and formation mechanisms of red wine colloids by studying monovarietal wines from 10 of the most significant Italian red grape varieties. Starting from the idea that proteins, polysaccharides, and tannins should be involved in colloid formation, 110 monovarietal red wines were analysed for these components, revealing high inter- and intra-varietal diversity [1].

Read More