WINERIES ON THE EDGE
Five years ago, Klaus Peter Keller led a tasting of his Spatbürgunder, or Pinot Noir, from Germany. He was showing off how the cold climate created beautiful expressions of the variety and, at some point, made an offhand comment that stood out long after the fact.
“I planted a vineyard in Norway.”
Fast-forward to today, and Keller’s vines there have yielded several vintages of Riesling.
Wines from Norway, along with those from Japan, Bolivia and ever-growing swathes of British Columbia, Canada, testify to transition afoot. As the climate changes, so does the number of winegrowing areas. These four regions represent new frontiers of viticulture and, in many ways, prove that the future is now.
NORWAY
On a south-facing granitic site that overlooks the North Sea, Keller and his Norwegian former apprentice, Anne Enggrav, planted Riesling on her family’s land.
“Geisenheim University predicted our first harvest in approximately 2050,” says Keller. “So, we were happy and afraid when in 2015 and 2018, grapes reached full ripeness.”
When Keller and Enggrav planted the vineyard back in 2008, locals had already been dabbling in viticulture for 20 years, mostly as hobbyists. As the climate has warmed and domestic
