Climate change is a cause for concern everywhere, but the south of France, which is famously warm and dry, is at the forefront of the struggle. As heat records break each year – France saw its highest average temperature ever on 23 June – harvests are getting earlier, sugar levels are rising, acidity is plummeting, and maintaining healthy vines is getting more challenging.
As regions around the world are pushed to explore heat-tolerant varieties, Mourvèdre has emerged as a particularly interesting case study. In southern France’s Bandol region, hot-weather-loving Mourvèdre has long been used as the dominant variety in red and rosé wines. Away from the coast, Mourvèdre was long avoided, as its notoriously late ripening precluded it from yielding phenolically ripe grapes, and therefore great wine.
Now, as the climate becomes more erratic and increasingly warm, is Mourvèdre’s heat tolerance allowing it to thrive in a warming world? It’s useful to look at exactly how heat-tolerant grape varieties like Mourvèdre are faring, rather than assuming they are better off than others.
Mourvèdre’s evolution in Bandol
Mourvèdre is known as Monastrell in much of Spain, where it’s the fourth most-planted red grape variety. It is also sometimes called Mataro in California and Australia. Although its exact origins are uncertain, the variety is believed to have originated in Spain’s Levante region. According to tradition, pilgrims returning from Santiago de Compostela brought cuttings across the Pyrenees, planting them at Saint-Gilles in what is now the southern part of Costières de Nîmes.
As a late-ripening variety, it needs a hot, dry climate with a long growing season. It is also susceptible to both mildews and low winter temperatures. However, the heat needs to be moderated. In Jumilla, the vineyards are moderated by high altitude, and in Bandol the climate is moderated by the nearby sea. The expression that Mourvèdre “needs its head in the sun and its feet in the sea” reflects this.
In Provence, Mourvèdre was the most-planted vine before phylloxera, but lost its premium position in all but the hot, coastal region of Bandol. Though an increasing number of Bandol wines have a very high percentage of the grape, the reds cannot be 100 percent Mourvèdre. Grenache is usually blended for fruit, while Cinsault is added for freshness.
With increasingly hotter, drier vintages, even Mourvèdre is struggling to maintain its balance and elegance, and producers are looking at how they can help mitigate the effects of the changing weather. Jean-François Ott, the fourth-generation winemaker for Domaines Ott, is clear that with climate change, adaptation is essential. “This year, if we followed the same recipe as last year, the wines and vines would be dead, especially if there are high yields that might tire the vines,” he says.
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