Climate change threatens French wine

Marie Doezema in CNBC: From rising shorelines to devastating hurricanes, the visible effects scientists say climate change is wreaking on daily life no longer surprise many people around the world. The French have their own take on just how radically life may change.

"In 20 years, the English will be making Grenache from Chateauneuf-du-Pape," says Herve Lethielleux, co-owner of L'Etiquette, a wine boutique in central Paris, about a wine variety from subtropical southeastern France.

That's because the changing climate is affecting the delicate balance of weather, soil and other factors that are central to the production one of their main commodities, something that's already had a visible effect elsewhere around the globe.

"If you look at Tasmania, it was too cool to grow grapes 25 to 40 years ago," says Gregory Jones, a research climatologist at Southern Oregon University, about the wine-producing region of Australia. "Today, it's clearly much more suitable."

For French winemakers already keenly feeling the effects of growing competition from other countries, higher temperatures in recent years have meant grapes with lower acidity and higher sugar content. That makes for higher alcohol and fruitier — some say cloying — wines....

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