It is a product that conjures up images of hillside terraces in Italy or lush green landscapes in the south of France.
However, your favourite glass of wine could one day come from grapes grown on the sun-kissed slopes of Scotland – thanks to global warming.
A global map created by scientists from France’s Bordeaux and Burgundy wine provinces predicts rising temperatures will make regions such as southern France, Italy and northern Spain unsuitable.
Areas once considered too cool and wet for viticulture, such as Scotland and Northumberland, could one day become ideal for growing grapes.
Southern Scandinavia could also emerge as the winemaking ‘winners’, says the study.
Rising temperatures will make regions such as southern France, Italy and northern Spain unsuitable for grape growing
Fife food writer Christopher Trotter has planted 100 vines in the garden of his Upper Largo home
Researchers fear increased heatwaves and erratic rainfall could wipe out vineyards from Greece to California by 2100.
The study was carried out by teams from Inrae, a public research institute for agriculture, food and the environment, Bordeaux Sciences Agro college, the French National Centre for Scientific Research and the universities of Bordeaux and Burgundy.
It shows southern Britain as likely to enjoy ‘improved suitability’, while the north of the United Kingdom is designated a ‘new wine region’.
At the same time, Southern Europe is predicted to face a ‘high risk of unsuitability’.
The scientists considered two scenarios: one in which warming remains within the two-degree limit set by the 2015 Paris climate accord, and another where temperatures rise by 2C to 4C.
Either way, they predict Scottish vines will benefit.
