Italy’s wine industry is being tested by the effects of climate change in its vineyards

Chico Harlan and Stefano Pitrelli, The Washington Post, October 28, 2018

RAUSCEDO, Italy — Season after season, he’d been growing and harvesting the same grapes on the same land. But five years ago, Livio Salvador began to wonder whether something was changing.

When he walked through his vineyards, he would see patches of grapes that were browned and desiccated. The damage tended to appear on the outside of the bunch — the part most exposed to sunlight. Salvador talked to other growers and winemakers in the region, and they were noticing it, too.