Researchers from Melbourne University and the CSIRO have studied data from South Australian and Victorian vineyards dating back to 1936 and found that grapes are ripening 23 days earlier on average than seven decades ago.
Team member Leanne Webb says a rise in temperatures only accounts for seven of those days and they will keep researching other causes. "If the shift is not all due to warming then we think other factors are contributing to this shift in ripening and have suggested that management practices that have been introduced over this time period that might have inadvertently evolved to make the vines ripen earlier," she said.
Earlier ripening can lead to wine having higher alcohol content. |