During a recent Porto Protocol Climate Talk on Wine & Water, I was struck by how two wine professionals, working in similar climates but on opposite sides of the world, expressed completely different philosophies about irrigation.
The winemaker from Alentejo, stated that vines are dry-farmed by natural default. Irrigation, he said, is used only when chasing higher yields. “Water is like a drug to the plants; they get addicted”. Irrigation is only used by the commercial, large producers. He was also able to speak about a colleague who maintained yields, and even raised them, whilst dry farming through two heat waves that brought temperatures to 45℃ and is adamant that true climate mitigation means learning to live with drought, not fighting it.
Another, from South Africa, argued the opposite: despite receiving three times more annual rainfall, he argued that his region (Western Cape) depends on irrigation to achieve economically viable and sustainable yields.
Who’s right? Both - because they represent two entirely different ways of thinking about water, wine, and climate change.
The Dry-Farming Mindset
In Portugal’s Alentejo region, traditional viticulture has relied for centuries on deep-rooted, widely spaced vines that can survive without irrigation. The soils are rich in schist and clay, which retain moisture; the vines are balanced and resilient. Yield loss is not so much a failure, but a philosophy. Dry farming forces the vine to adapt, to dig deeper, and to live in balance with the ecosystem. It builds natural resilience and soil health over time.
The Irrigation Imperative
In the Western Cape, rainfall is winter-heavy and soils are often sandy or granite-derived, meaning water drains quickly. Summers are long, hot, and dry. Irrigation is considered a practical necessity - an economic safeguard for an export-driven industry under pressure to deliver consistent yields and ripeness. Precision or deficit irrigation is viewed as a modern adaptation tool, not as an environmental compromise.
The Deeper Question - the conversation we need to have…
Can irrigation ever create resilience, or does it simply delay adaptation? Portugal’s approach demonstrates that, when vines are allowed to struggle, they adapt and survive. South Africa’s experience shows that growers must remain economically viable if we expect them to change their practices. But only one method rebuilds the soil-water cycle itself: Dry farming doesn’t just conserve water - it redefines our relationship with it.
The future of wine will depend on how courageously we balance these philosophies: immediate economic survival versus long-term ecological resilience.
What do you think? Can a wine industry built on irrigation ever be truly sustainable in a drying world?
#WineAndWater #ClimateChange #DryFarming #SustainableViticulture #WineIndustry #PortoProtocol #WineAndClimateChange #TWACCI #WaterResilience #RegenerativeAgriculture
