Dr Andrew Pirie
MSc. Agr., PhD., Proprietor, Apogee Vineyard
will present
Evaluation of Climate Indices for Assessing Climate Change Impacts on Tasmanian Viticulture
in the Meeting Room, QVMAG at Inveresk at 2.00 pm Sunday 22nd June 2014
Admission: $5 General Public, $3 Friends of the Museum, $2 Students
Free for members of The Royal Society of Tasmania
To assist us with the organization of this event
RSVP by Thursday 19th June 2014:
Email bookings@qvmag.tas.gov.au or telephone 6323 3798
The world’s viticultural regions occupy a relatively narrow band of climates. This suggests that economic production from grapevines is relatively sensitive to regional climatic variation. Accordingly, climate change impacts on the world’s wine–producing areas are likely to be substantial. Growing season temperature (GST) is one index used for describing the temperature regime of wine regions and will be used to judge climate-change impacts on Tasmanian viticulture. Should there be 2.5 degrees Celsius of average global warming by 2050 years, a change in vine cultivars will be needed to maintain high standards of wine quality.
Dr Andrew Pirie qualified with MScAgr and PhD from the Department of Agronomy and Horticultural Science at the University of Sydney. His major academic interest has been vine physiological responses to the environment. Tasmania emerged from these studies as a potential high quality wine producing area in 1973, and in 1974 he and his brother David established Pipers Brook Vineyard in northern Tasmania, one of the first major plantations of the modern era of viticulture in Tasmania. Since then he has been CEO of Tamar Ridge Estates and a Research Associate at the University of Tasmania.
