How the Elevation Grapes Are Grown at Affect a Wine’s Flavor

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At 1,148 feet, the Tuscan vineyard Poggio Al Vento takes its name—Italian for “windy hill”— from the constant breezes that aid in retaining freshness in the grapes that go into Col d’Orcia Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Poggio al Vento. The influence of growing at elevation can’t be ignored. “Altitude plays a key role in shaping the character of our grapes,” says Santiago Marone Cinzano, 10th generation winemaker at Col d’Orcia. “This allows the grapes to develop more complex aromas, preserve higher acidity, and achieve better balance.”

While winemakers and journalists alike throw around terms like “mountain fruit” and “valley floor vineyards,” the impact of altitude on wine is not always clearly articulated. But if you do understand the effects of elevation, it can help guide you to bottles you enjoy, as differences in temperature, sunlight intensity, and soil drainage all influence grapes and the finished product. The most obvious contrast as we rise in altitude is temperature; as anyone who hikes or skis is aware, the higher you climb, the lower the temperature will be. The average drop in temperature for every 100-meter (328-foot) rise in altitude is 0.65 degrees Celsius, which is 1.17 degrees Fahrenheit. That doesn’t seem like much except when we consider vineyards that may be 1,000 meters above sea level, which will offer an average daily temperature that’s almost 12 degrees lower than it would be on the valley floor. Additionally, the shifting tectonic plates that created mountains have caused variations in soil composition that greatly affects growing conditions and shape the wines we drink.

Winemaker Kristina Shideler has a lot of variation to play with at Stonestreet Estate in Sonoma’s Alexander Valley AVA, just north of Healdsburg. With estate vineyards ranging from 400 to 2,400 feet, she makes several different single-vineyard Cabernet Sauvignons; one, Bear Point Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, comes from vines located 800 feet above sea level, and another, Christopher’s Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, comes from the highest plot she works with, at 2,400 feet. “The tannins alone in the Christopher’s make a statement, with broad and intense structure that will allow the wine to age for decades,” she says, while the Bear Point “is structured and poised” but does not offer the same concentration. Many factors are at play here, including daytime temps that are six to eight degrees cooler than at decreased elevation, which minimizes the impact of extreme weather that could destroy or severely limit the crop in a very hot, dry season.

One of the most important phenomena in high-altitude Sonoma vineyards is the inversion layer, the blanket of fog that hovers between 800 and 1,800 feet throughout many mornings of the growing season. Stonestreet Estate has Chardonnay planted within this cooler area, where the fog limits sunlight and helps to maintain acidity, while the Cabernet Sauvignon that is planted on higher slopes receives three to four more hours of sunlight a day that help bring the grapes to full ripeness. The Chardonnay’s thicker skins add body and weight, while the Cabernet’s higher tannin ratio helps with long-term ageability.

One of the highest growing regions in Europe is Spain’s Ribera del Duero, which sits on a high plain with vineyard elevations from 2,362 feet to higher than 3,280. Locals such as Dominio de Atauta winemaker Jaime Suárez call Tempranillo tinto fino (fine red) or tinta del pais (red of the country) to differentiate it from the same grape grown elsewhere in the country, as it is said to have mutated due to the region’s altitude, climate, and soils. Working with a 138-acre vineyard of 130- to 190-year-old vines planted between 3,050 and 3,280 feet, Suárez makes a Dominio de Atauta Ribera del Duero red as well as five single-vineyard wines from diverse plots within the estate. Temperatures can swing wildly between day and night, with being 86 degrees Fahrenheit while the sun is shining and then drop as low as 45 or even 39 degrees when darkness falls, Suárez says.

Located between two mountain ranges—Sierra de la Demanda to the north and the Sierra de Ayllon toward the south—Atauta is constantly bathed by winds funneled through this natural channel. “The cold nighttime temperatures and this wind make the Atauta vineyard a privileged phytosanitary resource,” Suárez says. What this means is that the vineyard is less susceptible to the pests that plague vines around the world. “In the last 16 years, we’ve only had to perform one treatment for downy mildew and none for botrytis,” he says. He harvests later than many of his downhill neighbors while still preserving high acidity levels in his grapes. “Our wines represent the freshness that altitude provides and showcase the less powerful, fresher, subtler, and more elegant versions of the region’s Tempranillos,” he explains.

Salta, Argentina, is home to some of the world’s highest vineyards, including Bodega Colomé’s Altura Máxima vineyard, which is perched 10,200 feet above sea level— more than double that of the highest vines in the country’s famed Mendoza region. Winemaker Thibaut Delmotte tells Robb Report that here, too, the risk of disease is almost nonexistent because of the extremely low rainfall—just four inches per year—so he can apply minimal copper and sulfur treatments to prevent any fungal threats. That said, at this elevation there is increased risk of spring frosts, so he uses sprinklers for protection, while the heightened possibility of hail due to greater cloud accumulation necessitates the installation of protective nets.

One large environmental disparity here is a decrease in ozone, which translates to higher levels of ultraviolet radiation. “To protect themselves, the grapes develop thicker, darker skins, resulting in wines with intense color and a strong tannic structure,” Delmotte says. In addition to moderate spring and summer temperatures and “extraordinary differences” between day and night conditions, he attributes the vineyard’s poor, stony soil for the layered complexity of Altura Máxima Malbec, which is noted for its freshness, minerality, full body, and firm tannic backbone.

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Coming back down toward sea level, Eric Titus—owner of Titus Vineyards in Napa’s St. Helena AVA—farms Cabernet Sauvignon on a portion of the valley floor that borders the Napa River. With higher daytime temps than at mountainside sites in Napa, Titus relies on daily afternoon winds that come up the valley to offer a cooling effect to prevent over-ripeness. Describing his Titus Vineyards Estate Cabernet Sauvignon as a “big, fuller-bodied red” that is “structural but fruit forward,” he explains that it is approachable in youth but will age well.

While many winemakers around the globe are seeking higher sites to ameliorate the effects of a warming planet, others have chosen to plant on mountaintops purely to make the best wine possible. Cinzano says when his grandfather first planted the Poggio al Vento vineyard in 1980, Brunello di Montalcino had not yet achieved the reputation it enjoys today, while at the same time consumer tastes then gravitated toward wines that were very concentrated, with ripe fruit and an emphasis on oak. “Choosing a soil and an altitude that would give Sangiovese elegance and freshness was, at the time, a gamble,” he says. Nearly five decades on—in the face of a changing climate and consumers’ overall shift toward a lighter, more balanced style of wine—it’s clear that was a well-placed bet.

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