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Water, water, not quite everywhere

Sep 2022 drought-stressed Merlot in Bordeaux

In response to Bordeaux, Burgundy – it's time to irrigate, experts in wine and water Edmund C Penning-Rowsell and Terry Jones consider the wisdom and feasibility of increasing irrigation in France's fine-wine regions. (See below for a detailed explanation of the image above.)

Above all, serious wine lovers seek quality, and this requires carefully designed regulations and strict enforcement. In France such arrangements have taken decades to evolve and should not be unthinkingly discarded.

Some history

Following the phylloxera crisis and the scandals of fraud and adulteration at the beginning of the 20th century, a group of politicians, wine...