Abstract Climate analogues, which identify present-day locations resembling projected future climates are widely considered to offer a powerful tool to support adaptation in climate-sensitive sectors. However, many existing applications rely on coarse climate model outputs and raw variables, often overlooking microclimatic variation and sector-specific climate metrics. In this study, we refine the climate analogue approach by proposing problem-specific adjustments, consisting in incorporating bioclimatic indices tailored to vine growth and pathogens development, sub-grid topographic temperature corrections, and a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to reduce redundancy among variables. Using European vineyards as a case study, we conduct a sensitivity analysis to assess the impact of each refinement on analogue identification. Each enhancement contributes significantly to the spatial distribution of selected analogues, with analogues shifting at the continental scale in some cases. Our results show the importance of using problem-specific indices, handling variable interdependence, and accounting for fine-scale climatic variability in climate analogue analyses. These three refinements expand the range of climate analogues for the 21,076 considered European vineyards (11,881 vs. 7,573 analogues) allowing a finer pairing. Though developed for viticulture, the methodology and insights are broadly applicable to other climate-sensitive systems, from agriculture to urban planning.