More Wine from RealClimate
The disingenuous fellows at RealClimate.com are at it again; this time trying to downplay the importance of wine vineyards in England during the Medieval Warming Period. For those of you who aren`t aware, winegrapes used to grow on the British Isles in abundance,along with olives and the like. This was during the MWP, when average temperatures in Europe and worldwide were comfortably warmer then they are now. RealClimate was started to defend the now discredited ``hockey stick`` graph produced by Michael Mann which supposedly proved a drastic temperature increase in modern times. This graph had to eliminate historically warmer periods such as the MWP for it to give the dramatic results Mann intended, and Global Warming enthusiasts were forced to rewrite history in a desperate attempt to keep his thesis alive. RealClimate was founded for just that purpose.
They state:
Hmmm.... so where did that bottle of Chapel Down in my fridge come from? (thanks Dad!) Or the winners of the 'Best Sparkling Wine' for the last two years at the International Wine and Spirit Competition? This is of course a trivial point, but it demonstrates (once again) that our contrarian friends don't even have a semblence of a desire to get it right. The lure of a talking point clearly trumps the desire for accuracy.
The early settlers in the New World tried planting Vitus Vinifera, the European vine species from which all Old World wines are made, with abysmal results; the harsh American winters killed all their plants. America was forced to attempt interbreeding experiments with the local grape varieties (which tasted awful) to produce even remotely drinkable wines. Years of painstaking effort paid off; they developed Catawba, Muench, Elvira, Missouri Riesling, Delaware, Clinton, Cynthiana, Isabella, etc. (I have Delaware, Cynthiana, and Elvira planted in my backyard, and make some tasty wines from them.)
The French, when the horrible New World pest Phylloxera began to inexorably destroy their vineyards, started experimenting with American varietals (Vitus Labrusca, Aestivalis, Ameresis, etc.) in an attempt to find good wine-producing vines that were immune to this destructive import (as American vines were). What they created came to be known as French-American hybrids, and they can make some excellent wines, while being hardier than their Vinifera cousins. These include such favorites as Vignoles, Chancellor, Chambercin, Seyval, Vidal, St. Vincent, Baco Noir, and the newer Traminette and Chardonel. Most vines planted in the eastern portions of the United States are French-American hybrids.
Then along came Dr. Konstantin Frank. An immigrant from Soviet Georgia, he had experience producing wines in a cold climate and began experimenting with Vinifera to increase it`s resistance to frosts. Instead of cross breeding with other species, Frank worked with cold hearty clones to develop types which could survive the harsh winters in upstate New York. He succeeded (thanks in part to work done by many viticulturalists before him) and started his Vinifera Cellars, giving New York State the means to produce the same wines made by the French, Germans, and Californians.
Unfortunately, these varieties will barely grow here in Missouri thanks to our variable winters, fungus, and enormous population of grape pests. We do manage to produce Lilliputian amounts of Vinifera here, with a few dedicated winegrowers doggedly pursuing Cabernet, chardonnay, Syrah, etc. Most southern states have similar problems. Of course, modern technology makes production easier.
The point of all this is that the gentlemen at Realclimate are either ignorant of these facts, or chose to ignore them. England`s wine industry is very similar to New York State`s, with French-American hybrids prominent (Seyval is particularly popular). You cannot ripen ordinary Vinifera in the United Kingdom, although I suspect some of Dr. Frank`s cold-hearty varieties may thrive there. They also grow a fair amount of German high-yield hybrids such as Muller-Thurgau (bred especially to ripen earlier than Germany`s great grape Riesling.) The point is, all of England`s grape vines are engineered things, bred by modern techniques to survive and ripen in England`s cold and gloomy climate.
That Realclimate would try to dismiss the Medieval Warming Period with this suggests that they are either not careful about their research, or are disingenuous. Their analysis of the history of wine in Britain also misses the point; according to Hugh Johnson, when Port was first imported from Portugal it was awful stuff, and the British oenophiles complained about it bitterly, yet had no choice but to drink this rough, tannic swill (since Britain was at odds with France and was banning imports of wine). Why didn`t they have a major revival of winemaking in England? Because they COULDN`T GROW IT, that`s why! They had no choice but to import wine from Portugal, no matter how bad. (The British later worked with the putrid product, adding brandy to stop the fermentation, leaving it sweet and creating one of the great wines of the world.)
The British began importing Port in the early 18th Century, and it was given this glowing account:
Firm and erect the Highland Chieftain stood
Old was his mutton and his Claret good.
``thou shalt drink Port`` the English statesman cried.
He drank the poison-and his spirit died.
Thus it should be obvious that there was a powerful incentive to develop a local wine industry, yet the British failed to do so. Now why is that?
Note that they recognize this attempt in an earlier RealClimate piece:
Wine making never completely died out in England, there were always a few die-hard viticulturists willing to give it a go, but production clearly declined after the 13th Century, had a brief resurgence in the 17th and 18th Centuries, only to decline to historic lows in the 19th Century when only 8 vineyards are recorded. Contemporary popular sentiment towards English (and Welsh) wine can be well judged by a comment in 'Punch' (a satirical magazine) that the wine would require 4 people to drink it - one victim, two to hold him down, and one other to pour the wine down his throat.
I ask again, why did this revival fail? Because you can`t ripen Vinifera in such a cold, wet climate. It was possible to do so in a warmer era, and it did. You will note that the British tried mightily in the 18th, to avoid drinking the poison that was Port. Claret drinkers never did warm to Port (pardon the pun) but English wine was worse, sour and thin and probably vinegarized.
It was a nice try, but a bit more research should have been done in advance by the Realclimate people. This turns out to be just more wine.
UPDATE:
I`ve always argued that the Global Warming crowd actively tried to suppress dissent. To prove my point, check out this post where RealClimate discusses a ``filter`` implemented at Google to weed out ``poor quality`` websites, which most likely means ones that do not agree with their views. If RealClimate is about science and not propaganda, they wouldn`t want to censor an information search. This speaks volumes about their committment to the truth, and their willingness to use whatever means necessary to win their case. That is not science.
They state:
Hmmm.... so where did that bottle of Chapel Down in my fridge come from? (thanks Dad!) Or the winners of the 'Best Sparkling Wine' for the last two years at the International Wine and Spirit Competition? This is of course a trivial point, but it demonstrates (once again) that our contrarian friends don't even have a semblence of a desire to get it right. The lure of a talking point clearly trumps the desire for accuracy.
The early settlers in the New World tried planting Vitus Vinifera, the European vine species from which all Old World wines are made, with abysmal results; the harsh American winters killed all their plants. America was forced to attempt interbreeding experiments with the local grape varieties (which tasted awful) to produce even remotely drinkable wines. Years of painstaking effort paid off; they developed Catawba, Muench, Elvira, Missouri Riesling, Delaware, Clinton, Cynthiana, Isabella, etc. (I have Delaware, Cynthiana, and Elvira planted in my backyard, and make some tasty wines from them.)
The French, when the horrible New World pest Phylloxera began to inexorably destroy their vineyards, started experimenting with American varietals (Vitus Labrusca, Aestivalis, Ameresis, etc.) in an attempt to find good wine-producing vines that were immune to this destructive import (as American vines were). What they created came to be known as French-American hybrids, and they can make some excellent wines, while being hardier than their Vinifera cousins. These include such favorites as Vignoles, Chancellor, Chambercin, Seyval, Vidal, St. Vincent, Baco Noir, and the newer Traminette and Chardonel. Most vines planted in the eastern portions of the United States are French-American hybrids.
Then along came Dr. Konstantin Frank. An immigrant from Soviet Georgia, he had experience producing wines in a cold climate and began experimenting with Vinifera to increase it`s resistance to frosts. Instead of cross breeding with other species, Frank worked with cold hearty clones to develop types which could survive the harsh winters in upstate New York. He succeeded (thanks in part to work done by many viticulturalists before him) and started his Vinifera Cellars, giving New York State the means to produce the same wines made by the French, Germans, and Californians.
Unfortunately, these varieties will barely grow here in Missouri thanks to our variable winters, fungus, and enormous population of grape pests. We do manage to produce Lilliputian amounts of Vinifera here, with a few dedicated winegrowers doggedly pursuing Cabernet, chardonnay, Syrah, etc. Most southern states have similar problems. Of course, modern technology makes production easier.
The point of all this is that the gentlemen at Realclimate are either ignorant of these facts, or chose to ignore them. England`s wine industry is very similar to New York State`s, with French-American hybrids prominent (Seyval is particularly popular). You cannot ripen ordinary Vinifera in the United Kingdom, although I suspect some of Dr. Frank`s cold-hearty varieties may thrive there. They also grow a fair amount of German high-yield hybrids such as Muller-Thurgau (bred especially to ripen earlier than Germany`s great grape Riesling.) The point is, all of England`s grape vines are engineered things, bred by modern techniques to survive and ripen in England`s cold and gloomy climate.
That Realclimate would try to dismiss the Medieval Warming Period with this suggests that they are either not careful about their research, or are disingenuous. Their analysis of the history of wine in Britain also misses the point; according to Hugh Johnson, when Port was first imported from Portugal it was awful stuff, and the British oenophiles complained about it bitterly, yet had no choice but to drink this rough, tannic swill (since Britain was at odds with France and was banning imports of wine). Why didn`t they have a major revival of winemaking in England? Because they COULDN`T GROW IT, that`s why! They had no choice but to import wine from Portugal, no matter how bad. (The British later worked with the putrid product, adding brandy to stop the fermentation, leaving it sweet and creating one of the great wines of the world.)
The British began importing Port in the early 18th Century, and it was given this glowing account:
Firm and erect the Highland Chieftain stood
Old was his mutton and his Claret good.
``thou shalt drink Port`` the English statesman cried.
He drank the poison-and his spirit died.
Thus it should be obvious that there was a powerful incentive to develop a local wine industry, yet the British failed to do so. Now why is that?
Note that they recognize this attempt in an earlier RealClimate piece:
Wine making never completely died out in England, there were always a few die-hard viticulturists willing to give it a go, but production clearly declined after the 13th Century, had a brief resurgence in the 17th and 18th Centuries, only to decline to historic lows in the 19th Century when only 8 vineyards are recorded. Contemporary popular sentiment towards English (and Welsh) wine can be well judged by a comment in 'Punch' (a satirical magazine) that the wine would require 4 people to drink it - one victim, two to hold him down, and one other to pour the wine down his throat.
I ask again, why did this revival fail? Because you can`t ripen Vinifera in such a cold, wet climate. It was possible to do so in a warmer era, and it did. You will note that the British tried mightily in the 18th, to avoid drinking the poison that was Port. Claret drinkers never did warm to Port (pardon the pun) but English wine was worse, sour and thin and probably vinegarized.
It was a nice try, but a bit more research should have been done in advance by the Realclimate people. This turns out to be just more wine.
UPDATE:
I`ve always argued that the Global Warming crowd actively tried to suppress dissent. To prove my point, check out this post where RealClimate discusses a ``filter`` implemented at Google to weed out ``poor quality`` websites, which most likely means ones that do not agree with their views. If RealClimate is about science and not propaganda, they wouldn`t want to censor an information search. This speaks volumes about their committment to the truth, and their willingness to use whatever means necessary to win their case. That is not science.
posted by Timothy Birdnow | 4:16 PM
2 Comments:
Fred Singer is quoted, on RealClimate, as saying "It isn't yet warm enough for wine grapes in today's Britain."
Now, all your learned explanations cannot explain away the fact that this statement is wrong, and embarassingly so. It is also interesting that somebody on the RC page made comments like this: "In fact, we Canadians cannot wait to get those vines and palm trees in the ground. We could really use some of that global warming. Bring it on." That guy, if he is really Canadian, is totally ignorant of his country's rich and expanding wine industry. Wine is grown not only in Southern Ontario (the famous Niagara Ice Wines) but also in Quebec province, where winters are extremely long and hard, in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. Of course appropriate varieties had to be bred. What stands out is the sheer uninformedness of many climate change deniers. Notice also that some commenters attributed England's wine industry to London's "city Island" effect, which is quite hilarious.
"The early settlers in the New World tried planting Vitus Vinifera, the European vine species from which all Old World wines are made, with abysmal results; the harsh American winters killed all their plants."
Of course, because Europe's climate is far milder thanks to the Gulf Stream. But this fact undermines your argument. Even during cooler periods, England will have enjoyed a significantly milder climate than North America. And what about Germany, not exactly famous for its mediterranean climate, where wine has been grown without interruption since Roman times (yes, even before Mueller-Thurgau was developed)? What does this prove, or disprove? Not much. There has been some climate variability since the Romans planted the first vines in Germania, but viniculture and viticulture survived those changes. People who think that the existence of vines in medieval Europe can be used to infer a Golden Warm Age just show how little they understand the issue.
Btw. Medieval wine would hardly be recognized as wine by us today. It was consumed in far higher quantities as an everyday beverage, often mixed with water, and had far lower alcohol content, not to mention quality. The Ups and Downs of wine production were influenced by many factors besides climate - war, politics, diseases, the availability of import wine, social attitudes towards alcohol consumption, to name but a few. How misguided of you to cite an anecdote about medieval wineries, without any scientific backup, as a climate proxy while at the same time dismissing all the climate records based on multiple proxies, carefully calibrated and tested and peer-reviewed.
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