The Drinks Business: Napa winemakers praise 2015
The wildfires in California that caught the attention of the international press this summer did not affect any vineyard areas and there have been no reports of any smoke taint, it claimed.
This year’s harvest was also one of the earliest on record, with the harvest for grapes to be used in sparkling wine production starting on 22 July. Most vintners expect to finish their harvests by mid-October.
That’s amazing considering where the fire was and how far the evacuation zones extended. Are you buying it 100%?
I’m far too skeptical to believe anything “100%” . . . but I’m sure it’s far less of a concern than originally feared.
Curious, Jason, about your thoughts on AVA migration (northward mostly) as current locations become impacted by temperatures and changes in weather patterns. NASA has been documenting the northerly movement of the early onset of spring across the US and the migration of the animal populations over the past several decades. How long before we see warm weather grapes grown in Canada, eh?
Cheers,
Dav
Well, my first thought was to say, “Define ‘warm weather grapes’, because I’m sure I don’t like very many of them.” Then again, I love Porto and Sherry, Douro table wines, and several wines from the warmer regions of Spain and the south of France, so . . .
There are some very nice Tempranillo wines produced in Arizona, for example. It will be long after I shuffle off this mortal coil before great Tempranillo is being made in Canada. But in terms of a serious timeline, as a layman, I’d say it’s anyone’s guess. Were I a climatologist, OTOH, I’m sure some computer model somewhere would say it will happen in the year _____. ;^)