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…

Chemical composition of press and free-run wines from three vintages and Bordeaux grape varieties. A comprehensive analysis

Press wines play a crucial role in red winemaking, representing up to 15% of the final blend [1]. Optimizing their value is essential both economically and for maintaining wine identity, especially given evolving climatic and societal challenges. However, little recent research exists on their composition.
Read More

Anthocyanin content and composition of Merlot grapes under temperature and late pruning conditions 

One of the main aspects of Climate Change is the increase of temperatures during summer and grape maturity period. Physiological processes are influenced by these high temperatures and result in grapes with higher sugar concentration, less acidity and less anthocyanin content among other quality changes. One strategy to deal with the climate change effects is the implementation of late winter pruning to alter the effect of high temperatures during key periods by delays in maturity time.

Read More

How to reduce SO2 additions in wine with the aid of non-conventional yeasts

Among the factors that influence the sensory quality, style, safety, sustainability, and sense of place of a wine, the contributions of microbial biodiversity are widely becoming more recognized. Throughout winemaking, multiple biochemical reactions are performed by a myriad of different microorganisms interacting in many ways.

Read More

Mannoproteins from oenological by-products as tartaric stabilization and color agents in white and red wines

Climate change is drastically modifying grape composition and wine quality. As consequence, must and wines are becoming unbalanced, with high sugar concentration, increased alcohol content, lower acidity, excessive astringency, color instability and also a rise in the incidence of tartaric instability is being showed.

Read More

OENOLOGICAL POTENTIAL OF AUTOCHTHONOUS SACCHAROMYCES CEREVISIAE STRAINS AND THEIR EFFECT ON THE PRODUCTION OF TYPICAL SAVATIANO WINES

Due to the global demand for terroir wines, the winemaking industry has focused attention on exploiting the local yeast microflora of each wine growing region to express the regional character and enhance the sensory profile of wines such as varietal typicity and aroma complexity. The objective of the present study was to isolate and compare the indigenous strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae present in different vineyards in the Mesogeia – Attiki wine region (Greece), evaluate their impact on chemical composition and sensory profile of Savatiano wines and select the most suitable ones for winemaking process.

Read More