Winemakers around the world lose billions of dollars in lost revenue, grapes and building stocks every year due to natural disasters. A multidisciplinary European-Australian research team of engineers, seismologists, meteorologists, scientists and winelovers from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Risklayer GmbH in Germany, Australian National University, Griffith University, University of Adelaide, University of New South Wales in Australia; as well as Greece and UCL in UK has set out to examine just how much this is, and the total risks associated with the wine industry and how to improve and mitigate these with respect to different natural disasters and climate change by developing a global risk index for wine regions.
WineRisk is an initiative started to assess and mitigate risk to wineries from natural hazards and other perils. Detailed analysis has been undertaken of historic disasters to the wine industry through use of CATDAT. In addition, risk models for wine regions have been created for multiple perils. Using a combination of wine region hazard models for earthquake, flood, hail, climate effects and other perils, detailed vulnerability analysis of winery components and their stocks, and exposure estimates from wine research around the world, an assessment of risk can be made for individual or portfolios of wineries. Mitigating wine risk such as using zip ties on precious wine stores, improving steel tanks, providing adequate drainage, frost fans, hail nets and other mitigation options, are assessed using cost-benefit ratios in order to assess quickly the need to mitigate the risk. Some wineries are in locations where large hail can impact an entire vintage (Burgundy 2012-2014), and some wineries are not. Some wineries are located near historic or potential faults where earthquake effects can tip over an entire vintage, others not. Thus, the need for a rapid yet robust assessment of your risk is needed to protect against potential losses.
You want to know more? Get in touch with our experts