Into The Heat by Nick Breeze explores how southern Portugal’s Alentejo wine region confronts rising temperatures and climate extremes, focusing on sustainability in viticulture. Through interviews with scientists, wine producers, and local leaders, Breeze details regenerative practices that restore soil health, promote biodiversity, and foster social resilience.
The ebook introduces Wines of Alentejo Sustainability Programme (WASP) as a laboratory for climate adaptation, highlighting three pillars—social, economic, and environmental sustainability. It shows how collaboration, knowledge sharing, and technology empower communities against severe heat and drought. Practical examples reveal that, even in vulnerable regions, sustainable wine production can thrive and inspire scalable models for facing global climate challenges.
The Wines of Alentejo Sustainability Programme’s key achievement is to push the threshold of viability for viticulture in one the world’s extreme and worsening climate zones.
Nick Breeze – Climate writer and author
Climate, sustainability and wine … a road-trip series with the ‘Wines of Alentejo‘
Alentejo faces hotter, drier conditions, with temperatures rising and rainfall dropping by 15-20% since the 1970s. Extreme heatwaves and advancing desertification stress crops and water supplies, pushing the region to adopt new irrigation and regenerative farming techniques to boost resilience against ongoing environmental threats.
A Study In Sustainability with the Wines of Alentejo:
We are going to learn about how Europe’s most climate vulnerable wine region is learning how to thrive in extreme weather conditions– boosting biodiversity, creating job security, improving viticulture techniques that defy expectations and meet consumer expectations of elegance and incredible more-ish-ness.
Available on all podcast channels
The Wines of Alentejo focused video podcasts can be viewed here or on Youtube, Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
“I was invited to participate in a Wines of Alentejo, Portugal sustainability programme and I’m so impressed by the genuine actions that these wine farmers are making to make wines more sustainable. I mean, genuinely.”
Professor Jason Box, Geological survey of Denmark & Greenland
“…in Alentejo I really loved how wild some of the vineyards looked … and then you realise this is not a show region, it’s a region with very severe real challenges and they are coming up with real and creative solutions …”
Janet Wang – author and broadcaster, guest with the Wines of alentejo
“It was the 40th of July of 2022. Here, where we are, I have a picture of the thermometer with 47ºC. It’s a lot of heat. The soil was 67ºC. The rocks were burning. It was an insane day …”
Marco Laranjo, vineyard manager at João Portugal Ramos Wines, Certified: Wines of Alentejo Sustainability Programme.
Into The Heat – Wines of Alentejo Episode list (Youtube):
Episodes 1–9:
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