'Fragile and under threat': Prosecco could disappear due to climate change, experts warn

Climate change could wipe out Prosecco and other popular European wines, new research has warned.

Prosecco - a sparkling white wine produced in Italy’s mountainside vineyards - is one of the continent’s most beloved drinks.

But grape yields are dwindling, devastated by a deadly combination of extreme weather and soil degradation.

A new analysis - published in the iScience journal last month - describes the harvest as “fragile and under threat.’

"The risk is not only losing an agricultural product or seeing a landscape change, negatively impacting the local economy,” says the study’s lead author Dr Paolo Tarolli from the University of Padova in Italy

"The risk is losing entire communities' history and their cultural roots."

Other vintages like Burgundy, Grand Cru and Cabernet Sauvignon could also be under threat.

Extreme weather is making life hard for Prosecco producers.

Sudden, intense rainfall events trigger sudden soil erosion and “slope failures” - when the earth slides away - in the steep vineyards of Northern Italy.

Drought is another issue, making crop irrigation extremely difficult.

This year, Prosecco producers were inundated with massive spring rainfall and hailstones, followed by a swelteringly hot summer.

The unstable weather - triggered by climate change - could reduce the Italian wine grape harvests by up to a fifth, producers estimate.

Prosecco’s unique flavour comes from its high-altitude origin.

Mountain-grown grapes are smaller and have a higher ratio of skin to juice giving them an intense flavour. They also get a lot of sun - but the cool temperatures of high altitude prevent them from baking.

Demand for the crop is huge, surging by more than 33 per cent in five years. By comparison, demand for French champagne gre