Co-adaptation to climate and sociological changes: "it is not relevant to change the management of the vine without worrying about its carbon footprint at a time when this criterion is required to give access to certain markets" sums up the Vinopôle d'Alsace.
By Christophe Reibel On 02 June 2026
 
 
 
Alsace wines are working on their carbon footprint and their adaptation to climate change
                                                                                             In this short cropping test carried out at flowering, half of the leaf area is removed. - photo credit: Christophe Reibel
 
 

Created in July 2024, the Vinopôle Alsace* is focusing its first actions on the carbon strategy of the Alsace wine sector and its adaptation to climate change. "It is not relevant to change the way vines are managed without worrying about their carbon footprint at a time when this criterion is being demanded to give access to certain markets," justify the president of the Vinopole, Yvan Engel, and its director Arthur Froehly.

"We have too little economic data to calculate the real carbon footprint of the Alsace wine industry," says Beryle Meistermann, wine advisor at the Alsace Chamber of Agriculture. In order to create this technical and economic reference system in two years, the programme hopes to recruit twenty companies of more than 8 hectares by the autumn from all professional families and producing more than 50,000 bottles/year and above all agreeing to open up their accounts to it. It will be linked to the Carbon Strategy for the Alsace Wine Sector (SCALA) project at the level of the Grand Est region and with the VITIGO project at the national level. The first concrete results are expected in 2027.

 

Short trimming and shade nets

Among the 75 levers for adapting vines to climate change listed by the VITILIENCE programme, the VISTA project will continue the work of AlsAdapt (closed in 2025) on shade nets and the management of the leaf hedge from 2026 onwards through the implementation of different trimming methods. Five years of trials on Riesling and Gewurztraminer show that short trimming makes it possible to postpone ripeness by two to three weeks without affecting the alcohol content. "The chosen strategy must take into account the weather. In a dry year, this method leads to a drop in yield of around 20%," says Théo Misbach, "climate change" project manager at the Alsace Wine Interprofessional Council (Civa). Among the nets, the anti-hail version seems to be the most interesting in a wet year. In this configuration, mildew pressure is lower. Various rootstocks, short trimming and shade nets will be tested at four demonstration sites in Colmar and Rouffach.

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