Mediterranean climate is an area with dry summers where most of the rainfall occurs during the winter. This is the best kind of climate for making wine. It is found in California, Chile, South Africa, much of Australia, and the areas of Europe close to the Mediterranean.
On January 29, 2008,
in Climate, wine geeks,
by ngorevic
Climate and Weather are important because they both impact the way grapes are grown and harvested, which in turn impacts how the wines turns out. You're probably thinking they're the same thing, right? Well, they're not.
Climate can be defined as the type of weather a given area can expect during a given year. For example, in an area with Maritime Climate , the weather has a much different effect on grape growing than an area with Continental Climate.
Weather, on the other hand, is how that particular climate varies within a give year. When you hear someone say, "1992 was a very good year," for example, the weather during that year is what they're talking about.
Grapes need a minimum of 1500 hours of sunshine during the ripening season, and 700 milimeters of rainfall per year. In general, this only occurs in the areas between 30° and 50° latitude. There are a few areas that fall outside these zones, but not many. If there isn't enough rainfall in a given area, irrigation is a possibility, but in Europe irrigation has traditionally not been allowed.
A growing area with Continental Climate is an area that sits far from any body of water, in the middle of a continent. This area will expect to have extreme temperatures, with very warm summers and very cold summers.
A Maritime climate is one where the growing region is close to a large body of water like an ocean or a lake. The water helps regulate the temperature throughout the year, giving warm summers and mild winters. As you can imagine, this has a large effect on the way grapes grow and are harvested.
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