Wine, Place, and Identity in a Changing Climate

The traditional connections between wine and location reflect local climate. Climate change threatens these connections, and vintners have a wide range of responses to this impending problem. This article explores the source of the associations between wines and locales, and outlines the causes for global climate change. Three wine makers describe how they might adapt to a changed climate. Their responses run the gamut from adaptation in the vineyard aimed at maintaining current styles, to radical reinvention of the societal and legal structure of the local wine industry.