Wine producers in Chile revive ancient techniques to combat climate change

In the middle of Chile's central valleys, home to grape varieties such as Carmenere, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, wine producers have begun harvesting at night, using horse manure and reviving ancient techniques to deal with water shortages and Climate changes. After more than a decade of drought, winegrowers in the Colchagua and Cachapoal valleys, two of the largest wine-producing regions in Chile, located approximately 200 km from Santiago, have learned to adapt to the limited availability of water. "Soledad Meneses, director of communications at Viña Conosur, a subsidiary of Concha y Toro, the largest wine producer in Latin America, commented: "We are returning to practices that we probably had before, but on a larger scale and in a systematic way." The last harvest in March, at the end of the southern summer, turned out to be one of the warmest in memory in this region with a Mediterranean climate and valleys surrounded by hills, where Pacific breezes prolong the ripening ...