Propagating terroir revival in the Negev: How the wine industry can amplify its resilience to climate adversity through a deeper understanding of historic dryland viticulture

Joshua Schmidt, Guy Bar-Oz

From Horticulturae 10(9), 917 (August 2024)

Based on an examination of the outlooks and practices held by past and present Negev desert viticulturists vis-à-vis their environs, the article offers insights for how the wine sector can bolster its response to current climate adversity. The discussion fuses bio-archaeological research on the evolution of ancient grape cultivars (Vitis vinifera) in the Negev with an extensive ethnographic inquiry into the ongoing wine revival in arid southern Israel. Ancient DNA analysis of relic grape material led to the identification of an historical Negev viticulture lineage. The findings provided a temporal framework for contextualizing the interrelated anthropological data obtained on contemporary dryland viticulturalists and wine makers in Israel. Since the climate in the Negev has remained fairly stable over the last several millennia, it makes an apt point of comparison for gauging the outlooks held by both historical and modern viticulturalists towards the local landscape. We suggest enacting two evidence-based adjustments to counter ecological instabilities. The holistic revival and applied renewal of historical cultivars and the attendant agronomic routines that sustained their growth in the past can benefit wine growers in increasingly warming viticulture regions as they attune their responses to the challenges wrought by climate change on the wine industry.

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