Amid climate change, Oregon could become a more suitable location to grow a variety of wine grapes, according to a new review article.

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Amid climate change, Oregon could become a more suitable location to grow a variety of wine grapes, according to a new review article.

Researchers from Bordeaux Sciences Agro and University de Bourgogne in France analyzed other studies on the ways climate change could impact wine production, especially if global temperatures increase by 2 degrees Celsius -- a point that could bring heat extremes.

With a growing wine industry, Oregon has the potential to become more equipped to grow a variety of wine grapes, which could shift the state's wine culture, the researchers said.

“Climate change is affecting grape yield, composition and wine quality. As a result, the geography of wine production is changing,” the study said, noting up to 70% of the world's wine regions could become unsuitable for growing wine grapes in increasing temperatures.

While winegrowing may become less suitable in some areas -- including coastal Spain, Italy, Greece and southern California -- other areas could become more suitable.

According to the researchers, warming temps could increase winegrowing potential in northern France, Tasmania, and northern areas of America such as the Oregon coast, Washington state, New England, and the Great Lakes region, which are likely to shift from cool viticulture climates to intermediate or warm climates in the future.

Greg Gambetta -- one of the researchers from Bordeaux Sciences Agro -- told KOIN 6 News regions in southern Oregon and the Willamette Valley could slightly improve with warmer temps, but he warns a long-term increase in temps could be a problem for dry regions because they would increasingly rely on irrigation.

Gambetta said he is unsure if a warming climate means vineyards will need to start growing different wine varieties, noting grapes are a robust crop that can be flexible in different climates.

“If you take the Willamette Valley, which is really known for pinot noir, and pinot noir is traditionally [grown in] a cooler climate, so, what's [going to] happen there? I don't know, honestly, because these grape varieties are actually quite flexible,” Gambetta said.

Gambetta adds that changing climates may bring changing viticulture in different regions, which can be a "scary" aspect for winegrowers.

“Growers can really use varietal change or changing cultivars to their advantage and that's a great way to adapt viticulture to a new climate, but it's constrained by the market oftentimes. And so, it depends on economic factors as well, right? If growers branch out, and they do new stuff, how readily are consumers going to be buying that up? And as long as consumers in the market kind of absorb that and [are] OK with that, it's a great lever for growers to use, because the different varieties have really different behaviors and are adapted to different climates. So, it's one of the most powerful levers that a grower can use, but maybe also one of the more problematic ones,” Gambetta explained.

"It's not doom and gloom"

Gambetta emphasized even though some areas around the world may become less suitable for winegrowing, these areas will still be able to grow wine grapes but will face some challenges.

“One of the things we want to remind everybody of is just how robust grapevines are, and it's not doom and gloom, that grapevines are very adaptable,” Gambetta said. “Historically [wine grapes] were the thing you grew where you couldn't grow anything else.”

“Even today, [wine grapes] grow all the way from deserts in Israel to the tropical regions, so there's a lot of diversity in wine grapes, there's a lot of plasticity and adaptation ability in the wine grapes and growers have a lot of ability to adapt. In most regions, there's a lot of room for adaptation," he added.

The researchers concluded it will be mandatory for winegrowers to adapt to climate change, stating, “One thing is certain: climate change will drive major changes in global wine production in the near future. Having flexibility to adapt to these changes will be essential."

Greg Jones, the chair of the Oregon Wine Board's board of directors told KOIN 6 News this review article shows the broader implications of climate change in agriculture.

"The overall message that comes out of this has always been that climate change has the potential to change agriculture in all forms. It doesn't mean just viticulture in wine grape production, but it can be anything, especially crops that are grown in fairly narrow zones, like wine grapes, or chocolate, or coffee, or avocados, you name it. So, climate change is really a big challenge overall, as we look to manage our crops, not only today, but in the future," Jones said.

This isn't the first time Oregon's climate has become more suitable for winegrowing, Jones furthered.

"Prior to 1960, there were pretty much no grapes being grown for wine production in Oregon. And the reason was the climate was not very conducive to growing grapes," Jones said, praising Oregon's wine pioneers. "The climates used to be too cold here. Now, it's warm enough and it's given us the ability to become a really a high class, high suitable wine grape production throughout the state, it's made things so much better in many of the places that we grow grapes."