Catastrophic flooding in Brazil
This isn’t just wine news – this news is on every major media outlet. Around 29 April, Brazil’s southernmost state, Rio Grande do Sul, was hit by torrential rainstorms. Last Friday, 3 May, the capital city of Porto Alegre began to experience flooding. Water rose quickly and within 72 hours had destroyed bridges, broken damns, flooded roads, and completely submerged cars and homes. Many people awaited rescue boats and helicopters from rooftops. 417 of Rio Grande do Sul’s 497 cities are affected. As of Friday 10 May, 113 people have been confirmed dead, 146 missing and 337,000 displaced. There are more storms forecast.
So, what does this have to do with wine? Brazil is the third-largest wine producer in South America behind Argentina and Chile. About 80% of that wine production is in Rio Grande do Sul. When South America specialist Amanda Barnes wrote about Brazil for our site in March, she pointed out that almost half of all the country’s vineyards are planted in a subregion of Rio Grande do Sul called Serra Gaúcha. As early as 2 May, Brazilian wine publication Brasil de Vinhos reported that some producers in Serra Gaúcha have seen entire vineyards washed away.
I emailed Brasil de Vinhos co-founder and journalist Lucia Porto, who has reported on the flooding for her publication as well as for Meininger’s to get a sense of the damage. She replied, ‘it is still too early to make any estimate of the loss of vineyard area. The most important thing is to continue looking for survivors. After that, and when the rains stop – they’ve picked back up after a few days respite – it will be necessary to begin reconstruction.’
I asked her where to direct support. For those within Brazil, she recommends using the Brasil de Vinhos site to find wineries to buy from directly in Rio Grande do Sul. She asks that you keep in mind that orders are unlikely to be fulfilled for many weeks but that the influx of funds will be appreciated. For those of us in other countries she directed me towards a collaboration between the state and the capital of Porto Alegre which is accepting bank transfers.
Climate scientists have said for over a decade that changing weather patterns would mean increased precipitation in Brazil. Which brings me to my next piece of news.
Planet-positive wine choices
Back in January, the Copernicus Climate Change service reported that, globally, 2023 was the hottest year on record. On 7 May they reported that April was the 11th consecutive month to set a new record for highest average monthly global temperature.
The frost, hail, freeze and floods that have hit winegrowers this year are a testament to the fact that this industry – really, all agricultural industries – will be hugely affected. So, I want to point out a few simple things you could do when shopping for wine that will help prioritise the people who are prioritising the planet.
The first is to buy wine that’s bottled in lightweight glass. Glass wine bottles are the wine industry’s largest contribution to greenhouse gas emissions. The weight of the bottle has nothing to do with the quality of the wine inside it. Our site has long championed lightweight glass and, for wine intended for immediate consumption (which is the vast majority of wine purchased), alternative packaging such as bag-in-box. And if your lightweight glass bottle of wine has no foil around the neck, even better! Foils were originally meant to protect cork from rodents, insects or heavy mould but unless you’re storing your wine in an unfinished basement – and honestly even that likely doesn’t matter – a foil is just a pretty piece of trash.
Another important choice to make is to buy local or from a nearby wine-producing area whenever you can. The less a wine has to travel to get to you, the lighter its carbon footprint.
Finally – and you will notice this comes after packaging and shipping – look for certifications such as Regenerative Organic, biodynamic or organic. Note that some wines certified as organic in the EU will be labelled ‘made with organic grapes’ in the US due to differences in the rules. (See the Oxford entry for organic wine for more details.) Not every producer who farms thoughtfully has the time or money to invest in getting certified – but if you don’t have detailed knowledge of a producer, these certifications are very useful shorthand.
Please note that producers selling themselves as ‘natural’ may very well buy grapes from conventional farmers and ferment them without added yeast or sulphites … which doesn’t really do anything for the environment. Globally recognised environmental certifications are the only sure-fire shorthand – otherwise you’ll need to do some research or get to know folks.
Constellation buys Sea Smoke Cellars
My last piece of news does not have to do with natural disasters or climate change. It is simply that Constellation Brands, one of the world’s top five largest wine companies, owners of Robert Mondavi, Kim Crawford, The Prisoner, Meiomi, Lingua Franca and others, announced on 8 May that they were acquiring the iconic Sta Rita Hills producer Sea Smoke from its founder Bob Davids. The sale includes 1,100 acres (445 ha), the winery in Lompoc, the brand name and inventory. It seems the company is continuing with its strategy of buying iconic premium wine brands with well-established markets.
Wine & Spirits Magazine abandons print
On Friday, a few hours before recording this segment, the US magazine Wine & Spirits announced that their spring edition would be their last regular print edition. They’ll continue to update their website. Our managing editor at JancisRobinson.com, Tara Q Thomas, worked for Josh Greene, owner and editor of Wine & Spirits, for 25 years. His ethics and style informed much of her editing style. Having written for both of them, I can tell you that there are very few editors as fastidious or ethical as those brought up in the ranks of Wine & Spirits. I will really miss seeing Wine & Spirits Magazine on shelves. Please remember that independent publications don’t get by without your support.
This is a transcript of our weekly five-minute news broadcast, which you can watch below. You can also listen to it on The JancisRobinson.com Podcast. If you have breaking news in your area, please email [email protected]. And if you enjoy this content and would like to see more like it, please subscribe to our site and our weekly newsletter.
