the force
climate
What is Climate?
Climate is the long-term pattern of weather that shapes a wine region. It includes temperature, sunshine, rainfall, humidity and wind, and together these conditions determine how grapes grow, ripen and ultimately taste.
While many factors contribute to a region's climate, the single most important measure for understanding wine is heat. To compare the warmth of different wine regions, the wine industry uses the Winkler System.
The measure
The Winkler System
The Winkler System, also known as the Growing Degree Day (GDD) Index, is the world's most widely used method of classifying wine climates. It measures the total heat available to a vine across the growing season: every day the temperature rises above 10°C the point at which vines begin actively growing, adds to the total. The higher the region, the warmer the climate.
Light-bodied, high acidity, delicate fruit.
Fresh, elegant and balanced.
Ripe fruit with balanced acidity.
Fuller-bodied with ripe fruit and softer acidity.
Rich, powerful wines with high ripeness and alcohol.
There is no best Winkler Region. Different grape varieties thrive under different levels of heat, each producing its own expression of the same grape.
Its consequence
Why does Climate matter?
Heat is the engine that drives grape ripening. In cooler climates, grapes ripen slowly, preserving acidity and producing brighter, fresher flavours. As climates become warmer, grapes accumulate more sugar, acidity gradually decreases, and flavours become richer and riper, giving wines with greater body and often higher alcohol.
Climate is therefore one of the biggest influences on a wine's personality, before a winemaker has made a single decision.
The range
What does Climate do to the wine?
Climate influences almost every characteristic of a finished wine: fruit ripeness and flavour intensity, acidity and freshness, alcohol level, body and texture, tannin ripeness in red wines, and ageing potential.
Cool
Fresh blackcurrant, firm acidity and fine tannins.
Moderate
A balance of freshness and ripeness.
Warm
Richer blackberry, softer tannins and a fuller body, with higher alcohol.
The same grape can produce remarkably different wines, simply because it was grown under different conditions.
a force not a choice
In the world of Aurenloch
Within Aurenloch, Climate is one of the Forces. A Force cannot be controlled; it can only be understood.
Every vineyard begins with the climate it is given. The winemaker's role is not to change that climate, but to work with it through the choices they make in the vineyard and the cellar.
In Aurenloch, Forces create the conditions. Choices create the outcomes.
Did you know?
Cabernet Sauvignon grown in Bordeaux, Stellenbosch and Napa Valley is genetically the same grape. Yet each region receives a different amount of seasonal heat, falling into a different climatic profile. Those differences change how the grapes ripen, producing wines with distinctly different aromas, structure and style.