Wine, weather and climate

The climatology and meteorology of viticulture is a vast and fascinating study. The fruit of the vine and indeed the style, quantity and quality of the resultant wine is immensely influenced by macro-, meso- and micro-climatic conditions of the vineyard and also the weather events occurring in each growing season. For instance, the dates of grape harvests have been famously used as phenological indicators of climatic fluctuations in northern Europe by Le Roy Ladurie (1971) and others. This paper provides a broad overview of the influence of climate and weather on wine and the interested reader is advised (and encouraged) to examine the other, more extensive, reviews in the texts listed (e.g. Robinson 1994 or the excellent text by Gladstones 1992).