Archive for the 'Vineyards' Category

Everyone in the California wine industry has been buzzing about the severe frosts this spring. Since I first posted on this topic on March 19, we’ve had a series of nights when the temperature dipped below freezing.

When I first wrote, it was merely the threat of damage to the young spring growth on the vines that was the issue. Then about 10 days ago it was no longer a threat but real damage. Growers in many parts of the state, and in fact in many different states, had new spring growth nipped in the bud or frozen in the shoots by unsually cold temperatures.

What does this tell us about global warming?

Read the rest of this entry »

What is wine going to be like in a post-climate change world? Well, we don’t have to wait to find out. The future has been creeping up on us for some time:

Late April 1980, St. Helena, Calif.–I woke up in the middle of the night. My heart pounded. A loud, buzzing roar like fighter planes revving on the deck of an aircraft carrier broke the 3 a.m. quiet of my street. It was the first spring that I lived in Napa Valley, and for a few seconds I couldn’t identify the sound.

Then I realized it must be coming from the wind machines, even though I’d never heard them before. A farmer whose vineyard was near my house had ignited the monstrous internal combustion engines that ran the low-tech, high-horsepower frost prevention equipment. Each consisted of an 18-foot tower with an airplane-like propeller mounted on top. A gas-guzzling engine powered it at high speed. Read the rest of this entry »