(HuffPost) - After the publication of a recent study about the impact of climate change on French wine, several articles misrepresented the study, resulting in misleading headlines such as An Upside to Climate Change? Better French Wine, French Wine May Be Improving Due To Climate Change , and Climate Change Giving The World Better French Wine. While the stories implied that any benefit of climate change on French wine would be short-term, they failed to press on a key point: Climate change will transform what’s in your wine glass and continue to do so as long as it remains unchecked.

Here in the U.S., the assessment of the future of the wine industry is pretty grim: the land area capable of producing premium wines could decrease by as much as 81 percent by the end of this century. The major impact of climate change on wine grape production is through increasing temperature; as the growth of grapevines is mostly dictated by temperature, climate change has been resulting in earlier bloom and harvest dates, with most major wine regions being impacted.

Major wine-growing regions such as Bordeaux, Burgundy, and the Napa Valley have at least a few strategies available to them. One is that they can maintain the status quo by growing the same grape varieties that they grow now. As temperature increases, sugar accumulation in the grape increases, resulting in a higher alcohol wine. Acidity of the grapes decreases, color can be reduced, and compounds that are responsible for the typical aroma of some wines can decrease. Will consumers adapt to these changing styles? It’s difficult to say.

A potential adaptation strategy for the industry would be to adjust production practices - which is easier to do in some regions than others. The American wine industry has substantially fewer regulations regarding vineyard and winery practices compared to most European nations. Wine makers in Bordeaux and Burgundy don’t irrigate vines or add water to wines to reduce alcoholic strength.

Without changes in production regulations, some European regions will have a more difficult task of maintaining their characteristic wine style. The greater need for more freshwater for irrigation and other vineyard uses is also anticipated to haveconsiderable environmental impact.

A third option for wine regions is to change to new varieties that are better suited to current and future climate trends. That’s another option that is currently easier to do in the U.S. compared to much of Europe. But will consumers clamor for Napa Valley Zinfandel or a Bordeaux Grenache?