Indian wine ‘heavily impacted’ by climate change

India’s largest wine producer has told of the “highly apparent” impact that climate change has made on this year’s harvest, making it the most challenging in years.

Sula described this year’s harvest as the most challenging in years (Photo: Sula)

Sula Vineyards began its harvest on 16 December, its earliest ever picking date, which CEO Rajeev Samant has claimed is solely down to “the effects of climate change and global warming”.

This year’s harvest in India is the most difficult one in several years, the company revealed, with lower yields caused by “unseasonal rains”.

“The last three harvests were of excellent quality and quantity but 2016 looks to be much more challenging,” Sula said in a harvest report.

However, the total tonnage of grapes being crushed by Sula this year is up by 20% from 2015 at 13,000 metric tonnes, showing that while yields aren’t as high as expected, it is still increasing at a good rate year-on-year.

Grape prices are also up, with red varieties being sold for as high as RS50 (£0.52) per kilogram – a large increase in just a few years.

Local consumption is also expected to be up 2016, with Sula expecting to ship a million cases in India and abroad.

Update: This article has been amended to clarify that Sula is crushing 13,000 metric tonnes of grapes this year, not 13,000 megatonnes as previously reported.