Climate change worries wine growers

PARIS — A leading organization in France's fabled wine industry sounded the alarm Friday about the ill effects of rising temperatures on the livelihoods of winegrowers ahead of a climate summit in Copenhagen next month.

Climate change has sped up harvests in Burgundy, altered the taste of Alsatian wines and disrupted hydration patterns of grapes grown along France's Mediterranean coast, an industry expert said. Michel Issaly, president of Vigneron Independant, a wine growers association, said the economic stakes are high.

"For those consumers who like consistency, if things go too far and the taste fundamentally changes, then we risk losing big chunks of market share," he said at a Paris wine fair.

Four or five decades ago, it was absurd to think wines could be grown significantly in Britain, Issaly said. "Alas, and this is a crying example of the consequences of global warming, because of increasing temperatures, they are able to grow in Britain."