| dc.description.abstract | Wine production has a long-standing history in Palatinate (Southwestern
Germany), dating back to Roman times. Especially “Riesling”, but also several
“Pinot” varieties gained major significance. Red wine varieties gained prominence
over the last 20 years only, which may be a consequence of climate
change. Our objective was to review temperature and rainfall data over the
last 40 years, measured “on-winery” in Hainfeld and correlate these data with
grapevine growth parameters: the development of bud break, flowering, veraison
and harvest dates, yields and grape sugar concentrations of “Pinot
Gris”, “Pinot Noir”, “Riesling”, “Silvaner” and “Müller-Thurgau”. Since the
1970s, bud break, flowering and veraison are 11 - 15, 18 - 22 and 16 - 22 days
earlier; harvest dates are 25 - 40 days earlier. Sugar concentrations increased
significantly, but yields decreased. Annual rainfall has not significantly risen,
while the mean annual minimum and maximum air-temperatures rose by
~0.9˚C, and by ~3.4˚C, respectively, resulting in an average increase of the
mean annual temperature of ~2.1˚C. Remarkably, both mean monthly minimum
and maximum temperatures rose especially in springtime, which should
have been the driver for earlier bud break and flowering. A change in the climatic
conditions, therefore, appears to be one of the key reasons for more favorable
grapevine production in Palatinate, especially for “Pinot Noir”, which
showed the highest increase in sugar concentrations. The Huglin-index, a
measure for the suitability of growing specific grapevine varieties in given environments,
increased from 1685 to 2063. According to this index, the climate
change may be favorable already for growing grape varieties so far rarely
grown in temperate zones, such as “Cabernet Sauvignon”, “Syrah” and “Tempranillo”
that are more suited to warmer, Mediterranean climates. | en_US |
