Climate change causing high temperatures in France is producing "exceptional vintages" according to new research.
The study, published in Nature Climate Change, found that climate change has "fundamentally altered the climatic drivers of early wine grape harvests in France" by accelerating wine grape maturation.
The researchers looked at records dating back 500 years and found that grapes in France are now being harvested earlier than ever.
According to the study, the biggest reason for this change is climate change pushing up temperatures in the absence of drought.
Before the 1980s, droughts were necessary for early harvests as the vineyards couldn't get hot enough to induce early maturation in the grapes, though now this is not necessary.
Lead author Dr Benjamin Cook, said: "Now, it's become so warm thanks to climate change, grape growers don't need drought to get these very warm temperatures.
"After 1980, the drought signal effectively disappears. That means there's been a fundamental shift in the large-scale climate under which other, local factors operate."
But while the conditions needed to get an early harvest have changed, Dr Elizabeth Wolkovich, second author of the study, says we should be wary: "The bad news is that if we keep warming the globe we will reach a tipping point.
"The trend, in general, is that earlier harvests lead to higher-quality wine, but you can connect the dots here. We have several data points that tell us there is a threshold we will probably cross in the future where higher temperatures will not produce higher quality."
She cites a 2003 heatwave which led to the earliest wine grape harvest ever recorded in France. The grapes were picked a full month ahead of time, but unfortunately produced wines that were mediocre in taste. "That may be a good indicator of where we're headed. If we keep pushing the heat up, vineyards can't maintain that forever."