For a long time, English wines were looked down on by connoisseurs. But as the climate in the southern parts of the country increasingly resembles that of Champagne in the 20th century, production has multiplied.
"Ten years ago, there were interesting sparkling wines in Sussex. Now there are also very exciting whites and reds," says Hervé Quénol, who works at a laboratory run by the French research institute CNRS in New Zealand.
He researches how climate change affects local areas, and winegrowers are among those who clearly notice its effects.
In general, the impact is negative for the main wine-growing regions, which are experiencing more extreme weather, such as heat waves. This leads to wines with excessively high alcohol content, he says.
Growers in traditional wine regions have been forced to adapt in various ways. Winemaker Ulf Sjödin is product range manager at Systembolaget.
20 years ago, people cut grapevines to expose the grapes to the sun, so they would get more sunlight and ripen. Now they do the opposite: they cover them and make sure they are always in the shade, because otherwise they will fry in the heat.
At the same time, the number of places where grapes can be grown is increasing. The key is that the grapes can reach full maturity before winter arrives.
The extension of the grape-growing period, from March to September in New York, for example, means that grapes can ripen enough to produce quality wine, says Quénol, continuing:
In the last 20 years, new growing regions have emerged in northern Europe, such as Belgium, the Netherlands and Sweden.
Forced to adapt
Poland, Thailand and Morocco are on the rise, and countries such as Denmark and Norway also have commercial vineyards. In Argentina, vineyards have started to appear in Patagonia in the south.
Ulf Sjödin has seen rapid changes since the turn of the millennium.
It's not just new countries, but also new areas in existing wine-producing countries that have become suitable for cultivation, he says.
In many places, it is not primarily a changed climate but more resistant grape varieties that have made the development possible. In Sweden, the green grape Solaris is popular. It was developed to withstand disease and fungal attacks and thrives in the north.
Even though it has gotten warmer in Sweden, there is still a risk of really cold winters. So you still need vines that can withstand a really cold winter, says Sjödin.
A third category of new wine-producing countries are those that previously lacked the resources to develop the industry.
"There are countries in the former Eastern Bloc that still have great potential. Moldova has very good conditions, but perhaps hasn't had the money to invest," says Sjödin.
Looked like a wine region
The Bhutan Wine Company hopes the tiny kingdom, which got its first winery in 2019, will have significant production in a few years. Americans Mike Juergens and Ann Cross went there to run a race, and wine consultant Mike liked what he saw.
I looked around and thought it looked like a wine region. They said, "We don't have anything."
Tigers and wasps
He put together a prospectus and business plans and sent them to the country. He was then asked if he wanted to run the project.
I said, "If I want to lead - hell yes." If they want to let a punk rocker from California lead an entire country's wine production, I'll say yes without batting an eye. So that's how it started.
The country now boasts ten vineyards - but it hasn't been easy. One year, the monsoon destroyed 80 percent of the harvest; another time, giant wasps punctured the grapes.
There is a tiger around one of our farms. We find dead cows and horses. They don't eat grapes per se, but they can eat vineyard workers. So the tiger problem is something we have to deal with going forward.
Another challenge is getting all the equipment to a country in the middle of the mountains with no history of wine production.
It has been a nightmare. Imagine transporting tanks in containers from France to Calcutta, which alone takes 50 days. Then you have to load them onto small trucks and transport them through the Himalayas. Once there, you have to figure out how to get three-phase electricity, which is not a given here, says Juergens.
But the potential is great. The country's variations in altitude and good water supply provide great opportunities for experimentation. There are no wine regulations, and the state is supportive, according to the founders.
"Part of it is about putting Bhutan on the map. Doing that through wine is a way to show how special the country is," Cross says.
Like a canary
Kimberly Nicholas, a sustainability professor at Lund University, describes vineyards as a canary in a coal mine - a clear warning of climate change. Frost, forest fires and water shortages are some examples.
"It has become more and more clear. For example, if it is too hot in the last six weeks of the ripening period, we lose quality. The sugar rises quickly, but the flavor doesn't have time to keep up," she says.
She says it would generally be better to redevelop existing wine regions than to move large-scale operations to new locations.
The most sustainable thing in the long term is not to take up more agricultural land, because we need it for nature and other things.
Instead, it would be better for winegrowers to try to adapt.
"This thing about the Champagne growers buying land in Kent. Actually, maybe they should change grape varieties instead," she says.
In recent years, wine consumption has also declined. The question is whether we even need new wine-producing countries. Mike Juergens argues that there is something interesting about capturing some of Bhutan's mystique in a bottle. He believes the decline in global demand for wine mainly affects the major producers.
Bhutan is simply not big enough; it will never be a country that produces millions of bottles of wine, he says.
India. Grape production is increasing rapidly here. But winegrowing is mainly based in Nashik, whose name is protected in a similar way to Champagne.
Ethiopia. A major wine-producing country. The company Castel produces 1.4 million bottles a year. The vines originate from Bordeaux.
Namibia. It is said to have the world's driest vineyard outside the Atacama Desert in Chile, and its wine has won multiple awards.
Algeria and Morocco. Algeria was once a major exporter. Now Morocco is on the rise. The cool climate of the Atlas Mountains supports relatively extensive wine production.
Norway. Like Sweden, the country has a growing wine industry. Slinde in the Sognefjord is said to be the world's northernmost commercial vineyard.
Poland. Polish vineyards have expanded rapidly, from less than 50 hectares to 1,100 in about 15 years.
Bhutan. The first barrel of wine was produced in 2023, and this year's harvest is estimated to yield enough for about 4,000 bottles.
Polynesia. In 2000, the world's first Polynesian wine was produced outside Tahiti. The estate, which covers about 3 hectares, is said to be the only one based on a coral atoll.
Sources: OIV, CNN, France 24, Tahiti Tourism Authority, Bhutan Wine Company, money.pl