Climate change has helped make the small Japanese town of Yoichi the toast of Pinot Noir connoisseurs, with gradually warming temperatures encouraging locals to try their hand at the delicate grape variety over the past two decades. But now, farmers fear that recent rapid gains in temperatures and potentially more rain could mean that it may become difficult to grow the precious grape.

Yoichi

For the past two decades, Yoichi in Hokkaido has seen its wine industry flourish as warming temperatures made it suitable for cultivating Pinot Noir grapes. However, local farmers are now concerned that further increases in temperature and rainfall could threaten their vineyards. Recent summers have been the hottest on record, with higher average temperatures and heavier downpours causing damage to sensitive grape varieties.

Vineyard owners report that the changing climate has led to increased disease and pest problems, as well as faster ripening and altered grape quality. Some producers are beginning to experiment with more heat-tolerant grape varieties, such as Syrah and Merlot, to adapt to the evolving conditions and secure the future of Yoichi's wine industry.

Japan wine town blessed by climate change now worries about the heat

For the past two decades, climate change has helped make a small town in Japan the toast of Pinot Noir connoisseurs. With warming temperatures, locals of Yoichi, on the country's northernmost island of Hokkaido, were encouraged to try their hand at making wine with a delicate grape variety. But now, farmers fear that even warmer temperatures and potentially more rain could threaten their future. As summer heat persisted in Yoichi in September, Yuichi Hirotsu, an award-winning vineyard owner, said his Pinot Noir grapes had suffered from rain damage. If we get heavy rain right before the harvest, the grapes will crack and become more prone to disease. As global warming progresses, wine grapes start getting different diseases such as downy Along with all sorts of other issues, pests also become more of a problem as well. He also grows grape varieties suited to Hokkaido's mild climate, but they too were hard hit by a particularly heavy downpour in September, something Hirotsu says he hasn't seen before at the start of the fall season. Known for producing elegant wines, Pinot Noir grapes can thrive in cool-to-warm temperate climates. But its thin skin and tight clusters make it extremely sensitive even to slightly too much sun or rain. This year, Yoichi had its hottest summer since record-keeping began, with average temperatures of almost 72 degrees Fahrenheit between June and August. That's more than five degrees higher than the average for the three decades to 2020. Summer and longer summer seasons increase the chances that Pinot Noir grapes could ripen too quickly, leading to undesirably high sugar and low acid levels. Higher temperatures also make the fruit more prone to damage from rain. It's been almost 30 years since I started growing grapes, and it is indeed that summers are much hotter now than they were back then, and the nights feel warmer too. Yoichi burst into the viticultural limelight five years ago when a wine from the local Domaine Takahiko winery was featured on the menu of Copenhagen's globally-acclaimed Noma restaurant. A bottle of that prized wine, which once sold for around $30, is now offered by resellers in Japan for about $560. Takahiko Soga, owner of Domaine Takahiko, said continued climate change could mean Pinot Noir has to be swapped for more heat-friendly grapes. As global warming progresses, we've been trying out different varieties such as Syrah, Merlot and others. By planting just a few vines of each for now, to see how things might develop, we're testing things in our own way to figure out where we are heading in the future.

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