From fires in Burgundy to hi-tech burners in Umbria, winegrowers fight against frost

Until recently, the images of the vineyards of France and Italy dotted with fires and stoves to protect them from late spring frosts, with the buds already on the vines in danger of being burnt by the cold, have unfortunately become as recurrent as they are striking. And so, as reported, among others, on the Facebook profile of the Bureau Interprofessionnel des Vins de Bourgogne, in recent days, and especially at night, temperatures have dropped to -6 C° on some of the hills of Chablis, and remained between -2 and -4 C° in the Côte d'Or and the Côte Chalonnaise. Mâconnais was relatively less affected, around 0 to -1 degrees, or even -2 in some parts of northern Mâconnais. With winegrowers returning to light fires in the vineyards to limit the damage, an initial estimate of which will be made in the coming days. The good news is that compared to the 2021 frosts, which were much longer and more widespread, the phenomenon was shorter and less intense, and consequently, production losses, which last year were considerable, should be less worrying for producers. On the other hand, producers are concerned about the recurrence of late frosts, which some fear could become structural with climate change.
In Italy, too, temperatures have dropped considerably in recent days, compared to the average for the period, but without serious damage, although some wineries have preferred to “prevent”, activating more modern systems to combat low temperatures. This is what Arnaldo Caprai has done, for example, in Montefalco, the land of Sagrantino, a grape variety rediscovered and relaunched by the winery led by Marco Caprai, who has been investing in the technological and smart management of the company for decades, with a view to sustainability. And which, in recent hours, has activated an imposing burner between the rows of vines, connected to an impressive, modern fan capable of expanding hot air in the vineyard, reducing the impact of the cold. Evidence of how winegrowers and wine producers are trying to adopt the most effective solutions possible, some looking to tradition, others investing in modernity, to counter the effects of a complex but inescapable phenomenon such as climate change, which, as we have often recounted with so many testimonials and studies, is gradually redesigning the winegrowing and wine-making scenario of the world to come.