"French Winemakers Sound Alarm Over Climate Change"

"Leading figures from the French wine and food industries are urging their government to push for a strong global agreement at a United Nations climate summit in Copenhagen in December, warning that failure to cut greenhouse gases will devastate their sector.

'The jewels of our cultural heritage, French wines, elegant and refined, are today in danger,' a group of 50 winemakers, sommeliers and chefs wrote in an opinion piece published on Aug. 12 in the newspaper Le Monde and addressed to French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

'Changes in the climate are leaving our vineyards increasingly vulnerable. Summer heat waves, recent hail storms in the Bordeaux region, new diseases coming from the south — these disturbances will soon be much more serious,' the piece continued."

James Kanter reports for the New York Times August 13, 2009.