Wine
Bats Are the Newest Key to Producing a Fine Bottle of Bordeaux
As vintners in the storied region face challenges from both climate change and Covid-19, studies are being undertaken to show how bats can boost harvest and quality.
Wine connoisseurs can thank bats such as this pipistrelle for helping save their Bordeaux.
Photographer: Eli Obus
Over the past year, bats have gone from unloved animal to devastating threat, thanks to their suspected role as the original carriers of Covid-19 before the novel coronavirus hopscotched to humans.
Yet in Bordeaux, one of the world’s top wine regions, they’re being welcomed as heroes.