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Adapting and Building Resilience to Extreme Hail

March 3, 2026, in Articles & Blogs

Some wine regions are familiar with hail and the damage it can do to vines and grapes. Conventional hail risk reduction approaches include the use of hail nets, hail cannons, cloud seeding and spreading risk through geographically diverse vineyard parcels. However, climate change is expected to result in larger and more devastating hail storms.

Techniques to help reduce the risk of hail damage include:

Internal vineyard trees
Natural materials for canopy protection (biodegradable nets)

There are also reports from regenerative growers Domaine Bousquet in Mendoza that hailstorms are not as destructive in their regeneratively farmed vineyards. See their impact report from 2025 here.

This is part of a series of resources on Climate Change Adaptation. The following buttons will take you to other resources.

CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION

Rising Temperatures

Prolonged Drought

Extreme Rainfall

Increased Vintage Variation

New Pests & Diseases

Climate extremes of heat, drought and floods are the new normal. How can regenerative practices help viticulturists adapt to climate change.

MORE RESOURCES LIKE THIS

Climate Change Adaptation

Climate Change Adaptation

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Adapting and Building Resilience to New Pests and Diseases

Adapting and Building Resilience to New Pests and Diseases

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Adapting and Building Resilience to Increased Vintage Variation

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Adapting and Building Resilience to Frosts

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Adapting and Building Resilience to Extreme Rainfall

Adapting and Building Resilience to Extreme Rainfall

Climate change is leading to an increase in extreme precipitation events. Warmer air temperatures mean that the air can hold more moisture. Therefore, when it does rain, there is an increase in frequency and extent of flooding. The pattern of rainfall has also changed. Many traditional wine regions would not expect rainfall during the growing…

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