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…

Tracking innovations for glyphosate-free in sloppy or terraced vineyard

Context and purpose of the study. Reducing pesticide use such as glyphosate, is a key challenge to support sustainability of viticulture systems and resilience of vineyard.

Effect of non-Saccharomyces yeast and lactic acid bacteria on selected sensory attributes and polyphenols of Syrah wines

Consumers predominantly use visual, aromatic and texture cues as quality/preference indicators to describe olfactory sensations. In this study, the effect of micro-organism in wine production was investigated using analytical and sensory techniques to achieve relevant analytical characterisation. Selected anthocyanins, flavan-3-ols, flavonols and phenolic acids were quantified in Syrah wines using RP-HPLC-DAD. Standard oenological parameters were also measured. Syrah grape must was fermented with various combinations of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (S. cerevisiae) and non-Saccharomyces (Metschnikowia pulcherrima or Hanseniaspora uvarum) yeasts, which was followed by sequential inoculation of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) (Oenococcus oeni or Lactobacillus plantarum).

The use of pulsed fluorescence detector to quantify free SO2 in wines via the headspace

Pulsed fluorescence SO2 analyzers are widely used for atmospheric monitoring. They are accurate, portable, sensitive and their price are reduced compared to advanced techniques like gas chromatography with sulfur chemiluminescence detection (GC-SCD).

First step in the preparation of a soil map of the Protected Designation of Origin Valdepeñas (Central, Spain)

This work is a first step to make a map of vineyard soils. The characterization of the soils of the Protected Designation of Origin (D.P.O.) Valdepeñas will allow to group the studied profiles according to their physico-chemical characteristics and the concentrations of most relevant chemical elements. 90 soil profiles were analysed throughout the territory and the soils were sampled and described according to FAO (2006) and classified according to and Soil Taxonomy (2014). All samples were air dried, sieved and some physico-chemical parameters were determined following standard protocols. Also, major and trace elements were analysed by X-ray fluorescence. The statistically study was made using the SPSS program. Trend maps were made using the ArcGIS program. The studied soils have the following average properties: pH, 8.3; electrical conductivity, 0,20 dS/m (low); clay, 18.8% (medium) and CaCO3, 17.1% (high). In the study for the major elements. The major elements of these soils are Si, followed by Ca and Al, with an average content of 203.7 g/kg, 105.5 g/kg and 74.0 g/kg respectively. On the other hand, 27 trace elements have been studied. Of all of them, it can be highlighted the average values of Ba (361.8 mg/kg), Sr (129.3 mg/kg), Rb (83.4 mg/kg), V (74.2 mg/kg) and Ce (70.6 mg/kg). Ba, V and Ce values are higher and the values of Sr and Rb are lower to those found in the literature. The discriminant analysis shows a percentage of grouping of 91%. The content of chemical elements together with the physico-chemical characteristics allows grouping the soils in 4 group according to their order in the classification to Soil Taxonomy; due to the importance of the Calcisols in Castilla-La Mancha, it has been decided to establish them as their own group even if they do not appear in Soil Taxonomy classification.

Evaluation of vineyards, fruit and wine affected by wild fire smoke

Wineries may randomly reject fruit from vineyards near wild fires exposed to smoke. It is difficult to determine if fruit has been compromised in quality when exposed to smoke