Fire and Ice in the Vineyard

These vines are in Chablis, France. The water was sprayed on them to form ice “cocoons” to protect them from early frosts. The solution to changing weather patterns is sometimes counter-intuitive. — photo from Decanter Magazine

“Some say the world will end in fire

Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.”

—-Robert Frost, “Fire and Ice”

Click for more on Robert Frost

The Vines

A grapevine is a child of the Earth, just like we are. It takes its nourishment from the minerals and the water and the soil of the earth, just like we do. Together as a vineyard they suffer through flood and drought and fire. Lately, a lot of fire. 9,369 of them last year alone.

Even the rocks expand and contract with the weather, holding in the heat from the day and releasing it to warm the vines at night. And, given a chance they will entwine as tight as any lovers.

These days it’s hotter in Napa Valley (California) than it was when I first started in the wine business. In terms of the my last newsletter, the terroir is changing—weather, soil, people—and of course the grapes.

But, it’s not changing the same way or at the same pace everywhere, even in Napa Valley. Some places may become too hot, others too cold. Some places fight the heat with shade while others may have to fight the hail and cold with heaters in the vineyard or by planting new grape varieties.

“One problem is that the models are based on fog patterns which are notoriously difficult to predict. So basically, the models all fall apart if the fog patterns change. Who knows? Napa could become Monterey instead of Lodi. With that said people are experimenting with shade cloth, sprinklers for heat suppression, different row orientation.”—Justin Leigon, Piña Vineyard Management in Rutherford, Napa Valley, California

When you are considering having to pull up the whole vineyard, re-plow and replant it and in passing, change the directions the rows run, then something unusual is going on. The sun is in the same place it always is, so what’s up?

Justin Leigon (above) is my most excellent nephew and is actually out in the vineyards every day, so it’s not a theoretical discussion for him. It’s not about science or belief or politics. It’s reacting to whatever the vines need that day, that month, and that year.

It’s not always new that matters. What matters is supporting the vines and it doesn’t always take a scientific breakthrough to save them.

From Justin again, “trellis styles are moving back to the old ways of sprawling canopies and wider plant spacing. What was old is new again! I almost always can find some good info and ideas from looking at 1960’s -1970’s grape growing in California.”

So adjusting the spacing between vines, the direction the rows run, and changing trellising are things that don’t need new science, but they need new money.

French solutions to changing climate

Sometimes vineyards are even going back to the old spacing between vines that is the traditional way of spacing in Bordeaux, France or introducing new grapes.

“In November 2020, the INAO [Institut National des Appellations d'Origine] is likely to approve the use of new grape varieties into the winemaking charter for AOC [appellation d'origine contrôlée] Bordeaux/Bordeaux Superieur. These will be allowed for 5% of surface plantings and 10% of the final blend of the wine, in reaction to the impact of global warming and climate change. These varieties are Marsalan, Touriga Nactional, Castets, Arinarnoa for the reds, and Alvarinho, Petit Manseng and Liliorila for the whites.” —Jane Anson, author of “Inside Bordeaux”, Saturday, Oct 24, 2020.

Introducing new varieties of grapes in Bordeaux would normally be a sin against God accompanied by loud French curses I can’t spell —not to mention an actual crime. The story would become a scary bedtime tale for French children—a precautionary warning against messing with tradition.

The vines on the other hand, are a little different. It doesn’t matter what your personal opinion is on climate change, or on past traditions. The vines know something is different whether you do or not. And they change to adapt. If vineyards are the way you make a living, when they change, you have to change too. Or you won’t make a living.

See the Book

Upper Napa Valley is getting hotter

“…as temperatures get even higher and the harvest shifts earlier in the year, grapes will be overripe in their sugar accumulation while still underripe in their flavor development. “There’s going to come a point with Cabernet in Napa where you have it seared on the outside and completely raw on the inside…”

—David Petroski, who was the San Francisco Chronicle’s Winemaker of the Year in 2017. Larkmead winery. From the San Francisco Chronicle.

Check out the video here if you are interested…like I said, some places are getting better because of climate change. Just not where you would expect. The English wine market is starting to boom! Who knew?