NEW VINES

PONTAC. AGLIANICO. Rombolà Prieto Picudo. Catarratto. Unless you are a dedicated vinophile, chances are you won’t have any bottles of these less common cultivars stashed in the cellar. But that might change over the next decade as forward-thinking winemakers look to reshape their vineyards with new cultivars that can survive – and thrive – in an ever-warming climate.

Unfortunately, this threat is all too evident for winemakers along the west coast of South Africa. “For the fourth year in a row, we’re down to just 30 percent of our usual harvest from our vineyards there,” laments Eben Sadie, one of South Africa’s most celebrated winemakers. “A lot of people talk about global warming, but few take it seriously.”

Eben certainly is. Over the last 20 years he’s poured energy, innovation and investment into importing new varieties of Vitis vinifera (grape vines), seeking cultivars from wine regions with a similar climate (spoiler: hot, dry and windy). He’s planted Alicante Bouschet from the Languedoc region, Xinomavro from Macedonia, Counoise and Piquepoul from the Rhône Valley and Viura from Rioja.

But there are no shortcuts on the path to innovation. The process of applying for vine imports, quarantining the new material, multiplying the cuttings and nurturing the new vineyards until they bear fruit can take up to 15 years. And only then cellarmasters like Eben actually start making wine.

“We want to keep making great wines, but we recognise that we are in a warm region that will only become warmer. So, how are we going to do it?” asks Petrus Bosman, managing director of Bosman Family Vineyards. One answer – after an analysis of climate data and comparing heat units in Wellington against other regions of the world – led Petrus to the Italian island of Sicily, a corner of the Mediterranean where a grape called Nero d’Avola thrives.