How Climate Change Will Change the Wine Industry

In double-blind tests by experts, wines from France are often beaten by wines from Napa or even New Jersey. The results between one region and another are statistically indistinguishable.

http://www.newyorker.com/tech/frontal-cortex/does-all-wine-t...

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/jun/23/wine-tas...

So yes, if over time regional temperatures change then it is likely the center mass of grape-growing may move a little pole-ward. Existing grape-growers will adapt by either growing different grapes or changing the way they grow their current grapes.

This is also true for corn. And wheat. That also will move north a little bit and favor different strains over time.

And yes, the resulting subtle changes due to localized fog, minerals in the soil or farming expertise might indeed modify the taste or other characteristics of the resulting wine. Or corn. Or wheat.

But whatever bizarre characteristics we choose to attribute to wines based on what valley they come from isn't set in stone. The people who now claim to especially prize (when they see the label) a certain wine grown in a certain year in a certain valley in Bordeaux could just as easily decide tomorrow to feel the same way about a different wine grown in that valley, or about a new wine grown in Tasmania.

Much of the nuance attributed to wine is a delusion; there is no deep social need to humor the delusional.

This year's growing season was absolutely hideous for me. Everything was either ripe too early or didn't have enough time to produce. I even had a late frost that killed off a lot my more vulnerable crops.

I decided to try out indoor growing down in the basement. I purchased some LED 300W lights and 2 90W LED's. They're working better than I expected but the challenge now is temperature control, water and nutrient levels.

I'm going to be testing out a grape vine, actually. I'm not sure how well it'll hold up. It will be a soil based solution though, I think.

Hard times.

P.S Mushrooms are pretty easy to grow and sell quite well.

I noticed that the majority of California's production isn't even in a current or future zone on the map of California in the article. The Central Valley has several single companies that farm more acres than the Napa Valley has in total--and those acres produce more per acre than Napa.

Small wineries are popping up everywhere in Belgium, the beer country. A positive effect of the climate change disaster. Too bad producing nice red wine is still problematic.

I can 100% recommend Chardonnay Meerdael sparkling white wine though!.

So, where to buy? Mendocino? Sierra hills?