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From vineyards to glass: How climate change is transforming the taste of Albanian wine

Politiko 2025-04-28 15:15:37

From vineyards to glass: How climate change is transforming the taste of

Climate change is becoming a serious threat to the wine industry, negatively affecting the production of high-quality wines in many regions of the country. Specialists in the sector are concerned: vineyards are suffering from a significant drop in yield, while wines are gradually losing their characteristic aromas that make them unique. This phenomenon is threatening not only production but also the identity of Albanian wines.

Climate change in Albania and Europe is significantly affecting the physiological cycles of plants, especially the flowering process, which is increasingly accelerated. This is due to the increase in winter temperatures and higher overall averages over the last 5 years.

Climate change is expected to reduce the land suitable for viticulture in Europe by 25% to 73% by 2050. The Mediterranean region is expected to suffer a loss of 68% of suitable viticulture areas, with water stress increasing by up to 50%, while Southern Europe will become increasingly dependent on the expansion of vineyards into new lands, with a slow decline in productivity and quality in traditional wine-producing regions.

According to Dr. Roberto Puglisi, the maximum temperatures recorded before the harvest cause very high levels of stress to the plant. This stress is also exacerbated by the uneven distribution of precipitation, with longer intervals between them and extreme phenomena.

Especially temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius in August cause high stress that leads to interruption or reduction of photosynthetic activity and negatively affects the vegetative and productive aspects.

Also, problems arise in the nutritional aspect of plants. Since plants obtain nutrients from the soil's circulation cycles, the state of water stress directly affects the quantity and quality of production. This causes alterations in quality parameters, including premature consumption of organic acids before the fruit and grape ripening phase, which then affects the oenological activity. Climate changes, which, as confirmed by all those working in the agricultural sector, have caused in addition to physiological transformations, other effects that are always common, influenced by extreme phenomena.

"Long periods of heavy rainfall or prolonged drought intervals also appear in alterations of pathogens with more serious signs. These manifestations are of the type of attack by common pathogens but with higher virulence. In plant organisms already stressed by extreme phenomena such as high temperatures, lack of water or heavy rainfall, the attack by pathogens such as fungi, viruses and bacteria, which have a greater tolerance to climatic fluctuations compared to cultivated species, causes irreversible damage. Due to frequent rain, in some cases farmers have to apply an excessive number of pesticide sprays. This results in higher costs, but also more waste (food safety problems) and lower quality of grapes (and wine) in general," says Dr. Roberto Puglisi, agronomist, for "Klima Sot".

Species such as downy mildew, mold, and insect attacks that take advantage of the fragility of plants weakened by extreme climatic phenomena have been observed more frequently. These infections pose a serious risk to agricultural crops, adding to the difficulty for farmers who must face not only climatic anomalies but also the increased phytosanitary problems that result from them.

Drought and high temperatures over the past two years have significantly affected the cultivation of vineyards in Albania, forcing many wineries to harvest the fruit earlier than usual. This has come as a result of reaching the sugar percentage level in the grapes in a period of about 15 days earlier than usual, with the harvests starting around the last 10 days of August. From a technological point of view of the sugar level, the grapes had reached the necessary maturity, which was not fully reflected in the ideal woodiness of the core, which is reflected in higher levels of tannins.