The effects of climate change are well known and equally their effect on certain grape varieties is well documented. The annual weather conditions that could once be relied upon for a good harvest no longer applies and nowhere more so than in cooler winemaking regions where flooding, drought and frost have been the downfall of many a wine producer in recent times.

Bordeaux is one such region, but in an attempt to get ahead of the game it has been researching over 50 new grape varieties to possibly grow within the region in coming years.

The grape varieties being looked at and experimented with need to be able to create Bordeaux-style wines if the climate change alters Bordeaux’s growing conditions.

According to a report, re­searchers have scoured warmer wine regions like Greece, Spain, Italy and Portugal, selecting 52 candidates and planting them in 2009 in an experimental vineyard in the Pessac-Lèognan appellation. Many of the foreign grapes that have been trialled are Sangiovese, Touriga Nacional, Xinomavro and Assyrtiko, grapes that all perform well in their home terroir, but are strangers to Bordeaux.

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