How many more scorched summers can the king grape of Napa Valley survive?
A couple of years ago my wife and I visited the Bonny Doon Vineyard near Santa Cruz to sample the offerings of winemaking savant Randall Grahm. While we were there, Grahm told us something I haven’t been able to forget. It wasn’t nearly as foggy along Monterey Bay as it used to be, he said, and that was worrisome for winemakers.
And that’s a big deal. The United States is the world’s fourth-largest wine producer behind Italy, France and Spain, and California produces 80% of the nation’s vino. Retail sales top $40 billion, and the industry employs more than 30,000 Californians directly in growing grapes and producing wine and many more in related jobs. Here, as in other wine-growing regions of the world affected by climate change, there won’t necessarily be less production in coming years.
Nobody knows for sure, but as far back as 2011, a Stanford University study predicted that the amount of Northern California land suitable for growing premium grapes could shrink by half as early as 2040, due to increased heat. Here, surrounded by trellised rows of cabernet vines, he’s got young stalks of aglianico, charbono, tempranillo, shiraz and touriga nacional. Those sturdy reds might not be as familiar tasting as Cabernet, and they don’t have anywhere near the cachet, but they can handle heat.
“The thing we have at our disposal in the U.S. is technology and knowledge, and we’ll find a way to make Cabernet last,” said Kaan Kurtural, cooperative extension specialist in viticulture at UC Davis.Growing wine grapes with less water. How California wineries are adapting to global warming “Probably a Primitivo, a Tempranillo, a Negroamaro, a Nero d’Avola,” he said, naming wines typical of Southern Europe, including Sicily. “Something from areas very similar in climate.”
By then, Robert Haas had purchased some land in Paso Robles and planted the southern Rhone Valley grapes he had come to love, including grenache, mourvedre, syrah, roussanne and grenache blanc. In 2002, the elder Haas needed someone with a tech background to help out at his Tablas Creek Vineyard, and his son joined the family business.
But if the wines of California’s future are from Southern Europe, I’m OK with that. They can be lighter and go better with the chicken, fish and produce that are the essence of California cuisine. My favorite thing about them? They don’t cost nearly as much as the more famous stuff.With that in mind, I paid a visit to the man who first got me thinking about the relationship between wine and climate change.
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