Bunches of hybrid type grapes in Yinchuan, China, August 22, 2024 (AFP / GREG BAKER)
In a laboratory in Beijing, hybrid grapes are lined up on a white tray to be tested, like green and purple pawns being advanced to combat the challenges of climate change on the country’s nascent wine industry.
The sector is barely half a century old in China, but already faces complex climatic conditions. In many regions such as Ningxia in the north of the country, winter temperatures are such that vines must be buried.
Dai Zhanwu checks barrels of wine made from hybrid grapes in a cellar at the Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in Beijing, China, August 14, 2024 (AFP / GREG BAKER)
“In China, since this sector is relatively young, we do not have precise conclusions about climate change,” Dai Zhanwu, professor at the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS), told AFP.
However, global wine production fell by 10% in 2023, mainly due to “extreme environmental conditions” such as drought and fires, according to a major industry body.
In China, scientists are using genetics and artificial intelligence to anticipate the challenges of the next fifty years linked to climate change, which exacerbates extreme weather and climate conditions.
Because rising temperatures impact the quality of grapes, according to a recent article in the scientific journal Nature, which means that “the adaptability of wine-growing areas is changing and there will be winners and losers.”
But Chinese producers are determined to be among the winners.
“(Wine producers) are contacting us to find out what will happen in the coming decades and what they should do to prepare,” says Dai Zhanwu.
– A warmer world –
Whether in the sterile calm of the CAS laboratories or in the dusty fields of wine regions like Ningxia, we search for answers.
Workers work in the vineyards in Yinchuan, China, August 22, 2024 (AFP / GREG BAKER)
In the vineyards, wine producers told AFP that they were already observing the effects of a warmer world.
According to Liang Yuwen, a horticulture researcher in Ningxia, the harvest is getting earlier and earlier due to extreme weather conditions.
“From the winemaker’s point of view, climate instability is a fear,” he emphasizes.
Zhang Jing, an award-winning winemaker, expresses concern about the effect of rising temperatures on her grapes.
“When it’s suddenly hot, the grapes ripen too quickly…the sugar accumulates, but the acidity is too low. This imbalance poses a huge challenge,” she says.
Faced with climate change, Ms. Zhang and others are experimenting with new practices, and even considering establishing vineyards in cooler regions, such as the mountains of Yunnan or Tibet.
– From the lab to the fields –
In the laboratory, Chinese scientists are working to develop new varieties of hybrid grapes that are more resilient in the face of climate change.
In Beijing, Dai and his colleagues are studying the DNA of grapes, trying to understand the role certain genes play in factors such as color, aroma and drought resistance.
Each year, the laboratory can produce up to 20,000 new genotypes per cross, all of which must be tested and evaluated.
Dai Zhanwu in front of bottles of wine made from hybrid grapes on August 14, 2024, in Beijing, China (AFP / GREG BAKER)
These scientists use artificial intelligence image recognition software to record aspects such as color, shape and size in seconds, reducing the time needed to identify candidates for further cultivation.
Promising strains are then tested in the field.
“It’s about crossing the good characteristics of the parent vines, so that the cold and drought resistance of the parent plant is better, and the fruit quality of the parent plant is better,” explains Xie Jun, a research scientist. plant genetics.
– A wine with “Chinese characteristics” –
There are already Chinese hybrid grape varieties used to make wine, the best known being Beihong and Beimei.
These hybrid grape varieties were developed by crossing a cold-tolerant native wild vine, Vitis amurensis, with stronger-flavored European species.
As a result, the vines can withstand temperatures below -20 degrees Celsius and do not need to be buried during the winter.
“Producers now feel that this grape variety will make it possible to produce wine with Chinese characteristics,” enthuses Mr. Liang.
Long victims of their poor quality image, hybrids are widely used in the wine industry.
“Faced with climate change, I think that over the last ten years, even in Europe, people have changed their minds,” said Dai Zhanwu.
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