CARLO Wine Award

The consequences of climate change, with rising temperatures and longer periods of drought, can already be felt strongly in viticulture. The impact will continue to increase, which is why viticulture is undergoing long-term change. The focus is shifting to grape varieties that are particularly resistant and resilient to the effects of climate change or infestation by fungal diseases due to their history or new breeding. This characterises newly bred grape varieties such as Sauvignac or Cabernet Blanc. However, historical grape varieties are also considered resistant to certain pests such as the spotted-wing drosophila and botrytis. Historic grape varieties and cultivation methods are also important from a cultural and historical perspective. It is therefore important to preserve historical cultivation methods such as the field blend (Gemischter Satz), in which different grape varieties are grown together in one vineyard and harvested, pressed and fermented together. The field blend is a testimony to a diversity of grape varieties that we rarely find today. Finally, non-alcoholic wines, whose market share is currently rising rapidly, also have an important role to play in responsible wine consumption.