The current wildfires that are causing devastation across France and Spain have highlighted the major challenges facing wine production across the globe.
Weather is becoming increasingly unpredictable globally, with major wine producing regions in Europe, currently seeing the impact of soaring temperatures and drought.
France has been battling wildfires for weeks with over 220,000 people evacuated from their homes, with the famous wine regions of Bordeaux and Provence being caught up in the wildfires.
In Spain the impact of the climate change has seen around 140,000 ha burnt with major fires reported in Ávila and Castellón, both areas that boast a raft of wineries.
These fire are indicative of the fact that Europe has been highlighted as one of the regions most at risk from rising temperatures and climate change.
Researchers from the University of British Colombia in 2025 analysed data from winegrowing areas in five continents, looking at more than 500 varieties of wine.
By examining average temperatures, extreme heat, seasonal timing and winter temperatures they put together a picture of how climate change is reshaping viticulture.
While the study showed a universal warming trend across the world’s wine regions, southern and western Europe was seeing nearly five times as many extreme heat days as they did in 1980.
But this is not just a European issue but a global one.
In California, the Napa Valley has witnessed the devastating impact of wildfires while Australia has seen years of Bushfires impacting on its wineries. Other countries with wine regions such as Chile, Argentina, Portugal and South Africa are all facing the impacts of climate change.
And recent research makes stark reading for the wine sector.
A study from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that if temperatures rose by two degrees Celsius, viable wine growing regions around the world could shrink by more than half (56%).
Meanwhile, World Weather Attribution conducted two studies on fires in Spain and Portugal and Turkiye, Cyprus and Greece, alongside a retrospective analysis of the entire wildfire season in several European regions.
Across all three studies, it found that human-caused climate change was a key driver of the fire weather conditions, primarily through its influence on exceptionally high temperatures, but also by exacerbating drought conditions.
Wine production is sensitive to climate changes, not only with wildfires damaging vines but also with smoke taint, which can have an impact on the flavour. Increased temperatures have also seen earlier harvests while the economic impact on the producers is also a challenge, especially if wildfires are involved.
Johan Roskam from family winery Chateau Cantenac, in the French Bordeaux region, told Beverage Daily that there has been a major impact on wine tourism since the regional warnings to avoid the Gironde area.
It has so far escaped any impact on its wine production, despite being close to the French wildfires but Roskam said there is likely to be knock on impact for wine sales and consumption for wineries due to the lack of tourism and related distribution issues.
He said: “The fires are a new unfavourable event not very welcomed for the region.”
Meanwhile, Martin Pasco, Mintel Principal Analyst, Food & Drink believes that climate change presents even more challenges for viticulture.
“Reports for markets like France and Spain say that rising temperatures mean wineries have to harvest earlier in the year, to avoid their grapes developing too much sugar content. If left on the vine too long, this sugar feeds into a higher ABV in the finished wine product and means brands can’t offer a consistent proof and taste,” he said.
“Moreover, the current wildfires in France (still ongoing) have come close to damaging vineyards in the famous Medoc region. Even if the fire has not yet reached up as far as the Medoc region, the grapes there can potentially absorb particulates from smoke blown up by the winds, which can impair their expected taste profile. That can mean a portion of their harvest is ruined and unusable.”
Meanwhile, Rosie Davenport, co-founder of sustainability and communications consultancy Impact Focus, said the wildfires across Spain and France this summer are part of a much larger story playing out across the world.
“From Napa to the Hunter Valley, wine regions have faced unprecedented conditions driven by climate change. What we’re seeing are fire seasons escalating in frequency and intensity beyond what was once considered manageable,” she said.
“Spain and France are critical to global wine supply, and both entered this season already under pressure. The fires come on the back of prolonged drought, years of water stress that have already squeezed yields. Producers are battling a compounding volatility that’s extremely difficult for any business to plan around.”
While it is too early to see the impact on the wine trade from these wildfires she predicts there is the potential for supply pressures and possible price impacts to come.
“What we do know is that smoke taint is a serious threat and can damage grapes even when a fire burns miles away from the vines. For producers in affected regions, this is creating immediate questions about crop viability and concerns for this year’s harvest,” she said.
While there is little a winery can do to mitigate the impact of global wildfires producers can plan for the longer-term impacts of global warming.
Davenport advises producers to plan by building climate risk and mitigation strategies into every decision and prioritising supply chain resilience, including diversifying sourcing and negotiating contracts with buyers and growers that reflect the new climate realities.
“The producers who’ll survive aren’t the ones crossing their fingers, hoping for better fire seasons or fewer droughts or floods. They’re the ones systematically redesigning their business for the climate they’re now operating in,” she said.
Meanwhile, Martin Pasco, Mintel Principal Analyst, Food & Drink added: “In the coming decades, famous wine regions in southern Europe are likely to become too hot to produce quality grapes.
“This could mean transferring wine production to northern France or see the rise of northern European wines from markets like the UK and even the Nordics.”
