[Leica] English wine

[lrzeitlin at gmail.com (Lawrence Zeitlin)]

Nathan writes:
"It is increasingly accepted in wine circles that English wine has made huge
strides in recent years and will continue to do so. Right now it is mostly a
low-quantity, good-quality business but as the effects of global warming
kick in the quantity will go up to. In fact, some winemakers in Bordeaux
(where d'Yquem is located, BTW) are now buying land in northern France and
southern England because they anticipate that in 30-40 years their current
vineyards in the south will have turned into desert.'

The idea that the UK has a cool temperature is, I suspect, a geomyth. We
lived on the island of Anglesley, in North Wales, for over two years. The
island is on the Irish Sea just across from Dublin. In the time that we
lived there it snowed just once and that was a dusting that would be laughed
at by any New Englander or German. Despite the popularity of "The Christmas
Carol" it has not snowed in England over Christmas for the last 50 years.
Indeed we had palm trees growing in our back yard. Not stately royal palms
to be sure, but palm trees nevertheless. With little coconuts growing on
top. The most characteristic weather was rain, almost every day.

It is my understanding that wine grapes require a relatively sunny and dry
climate to mature properly. That would be hard to find in the UK except
perhaps, after global warming, in the north of Scotland. The French wine
makers would do better to buy land in Australia, California, or Chile. On
the other hand the conditions in the UK are ideal for beer.

Larry Z