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Summary

August 2025, a torrid Bordeaux summer: cue thunderbolt. 

Lafleur, one of Bordeaux’s most acclaimed wines, sensationally quits the Pomerol and Bordeaux appellations.

At the heart of the issue: water.

Truth is, vines need water to survive and produce good wine. Not too much, nor too little.

But climate change has thrown a giant spanner into the works – places that used to have just enough rain, now often aren’t getting enough.

And it’s a particular issue in more traditional areas, like Bordeaux, where local appellation rules often forbid irrigation (or other things like mulching, reducing vine density or changing vine varieties). Hence Lafleur’s decision.

In this extended episode, we hear the full rationale from Lafleur as they release their 2025 wines, which benefitted from their unique ‘soil water recharge’ technique.

We discuss the reality of climate change, why Lafleur is, ‘changing to remain the same’, how exactly they’re irrigating, the key issue of where the water is coming from and the future of appellations.

The implications are manifold.

We also hear from Olivier Tregoat of Domaines Barons de Rothschild Lafite, and share input from Cornelis Van Leeuwen – both acknowledged soil and water experts, and respected Bordeaux insiders. 

Finally, we get a different perspective from viticulturist Jaco Engelbrecht in South Africa, where severe drought recently saw Cape Town facing ‘Day Zero’ (when the water would run out).

Jaco works with a stellar client list across both dry-farmed and irrigated vineyards, and shares his expert insights and recommendations.

So what is the future of wine when it comes to water?

Are we looking at wine Armageddon, with great Bordeaux a thing of the past?

Or can human ingenuity and the vine’s famous resilience save the day?

Starring

• Omri Ram, Lafleur
• Olivier Tregoat, Domaines Barons de Rothschild (DBR) Lafite
• Cornelis Van Leeuwen
• Jaco Engelbrecht, Visual Viticulture

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Links

• We mentioned an article by Cornelis Van Leeuwen in Union Girondine – it’s behind a paywall and in French, but if neither of these things bother you, here’s the link: Retour Sur le Millésime 2025: Faut-il envisager l’irrigation dans the Bordelais? [Recap on the 2025 Vintage: Is Irrigation Coming to Bordeaux?]
• Cornelis also sent us a paper on the ‘ecological disaster’ regarding water usage in Spanish vineyards – The Blue Water Footprint of the Spanish Wine Industry: 1935-2015
• The recently published book Rooted in Change, The stories behind sustainable wine delves into the water issue, among other things (and Wine Blast PLUS subscribers get 15% off at Academie du Vin Library)
• Another good paper: An Update on the Impact of Climate Change in Viticulture and Potential Adaptations
• Ditto: Climate change impacts and adaptations of wine production
• Another take on this: Drought will not leave your glass empty: Low risk of hydraulic failure revealed by long-term drought observations in world’s top wine regions
• A good overview: The impact of climate change on viticulture and wine quality

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Transcript

Coming soon!