Pacific Northwest Wineries Are Shaking Off the Extreme Heat Wave, But Are Worried What It Means for the Industry’s Future

The unprecedented heat wave that descended on the Pacific Northwest this week has alarmed many in the region’s burgeoning wine industry, leaving them worried over the deepening challenges climate change could bring to their businesses.

Earlier this week, temperatures skyrocketed as high as 117 degrees Fahrenheit in Oregon’s Willamette Valley—an area known for cool-climate wines like Pinot Noir—while Washington state might have broken its all-time state record with Chelan County recording a high of 119 degrees on Tuesday. Mark Chien, an experienced grape grower and the former program coordinator for Oregon State University’s Oregon Wine Research Institute, tells TIME that wineries may have come away largely unscathed from this week’s sizzling temperatures. However, he says continued extreme weather events could threaten the industry’s future.

“With a heat spike like this, there are the immediate concerns and then there are the medium-to-long-term consequences of climate change—especially in a place like the Willamette Valley, which is prized for its cool climate,” Chien says. “Climate change is taking the region away from its hallmark reputation. The industry is going to have to deal with that.”

At Willamette Valley Vineyards in Oregon, CEO and founder Jim Bernau says that, fortunately, this week’s heat occurred at the point in the growing season when it could cause the least amount of damage.

“Mother nature picked the absolute best time for this heat because we’d already been through flowering, we’d already been through fruit set,” he said. “It rained twice the average amount in June so the ground was charged with water and our vines had produced very vigorous canopies and leaf cover. Our little berry clusters had yet to start to grow so they didn’t experience any dehydration.”

But if the extreme temperatures had lasted more than a few days, Bernau says it could have spelled major trouble for the vineyard’s vines.

(Adapted from https://time.com)