Winegrowing’s hotter and drier future

Short courses for professionals

In a context of climate change viticulture is facing multiple challenges especially with regard to increasing temperatures and more intense and frequent heatwaves and droughts. This module will introduce you to the latest science surrounding winegrowing’s hotter and drier future.

Start day: 01/01/2026
End day: 31/12/2026
Duration: 5 hours
Tuition fee: 240 €

Presentation brochure

S'inscrire

Training

In a context of climate change viticulture is facing multiple challenges especially with regard to increasing temperatures and more intense and frequent heatwaves and droughts.

This module will introduce you to the latest science surrounding winegrowing’s hotter and drier future. It will specifically focus on the increasing threats posed by heat waves and droughts, introducing the ways viticulturalists can adapt management to increase vineyard resilience and exploring the potential impacts of these adaptation strategies. Through simple, clear video presentations and interactive content, you can delve into this pressing challenge facing winegrowing today.

Who is it for?

Wine connoisseurs, wine enthusiasts, wine professionals looking to upgrade their knowledge,
Anyone with some familiarity of viticulture and winemaking interested in learning more about climate change’s impacts on winegrowing.

Requirement

Curiosity, interests, and some familiarity of subjects in viticulture and/or winemaking

Contents & goals

Goals of the training

To introduce the learner to the effects of climate change on viticulture, especially the effects of increased temperatures and drought on wine production.
Target Skills : Be able to explain the threats posed by increasing temperature globally
Describe the factors that drive vineyard water use and explain why climate change increases water use and the likelihood of drought
Be able to identify the wine regions the most at risk for drought in the future and recognize the roles of soils in this increased risk
Explain the responses of a vine to drought and indicate how these responses benefit and protect the vine
Describe different adaptation measures that winegrowers can use to increase the drought tolerance of their vineyards and compare the advantages and disadvantages of these measures
Distinguish between short- and long-term adaptation measures and discuss their feasibility
Outline the impacts of increased irrigation on fresh water resources and soil health, and distinguish under which circumstances irrigation would be a sustainable adaptation and vice versa.

Training content

Week 1 – Introduction and Part I
– Introduction (30min)
– Effect of increasing temperatures (30min)
– How increased temperature leads to increased drought and its effects on vines? (15min)
– The role of soil in drought susceptibility (15min)
– Regional case studies (30min)

Week 2 – Part II: Adaptations and their impacts and Q&A with professors Greg Gambetta and Kees van Leeuwen
– How do grapevines adapt to drought? (30min)
– How winegrowers can adapt to a hotter drier future? (30min)
– Adaptation impacts on natural resources (30min)
– Final Exercise (30min)
– Live Q&A (1h)