Wait til Global Warming Hits the Vineyards!

Global warming, global warming.  As if we don't have enough to worry about (China starting to make and export wine), now experts are telling us to beware the effects of global warming on our favorite vineyards.

According to a recent report in USA Today, global warming may affect where wine grapes can and cannot be grown!  (My exclamation point.)

It's a good news, bad news situation.  You guessed it - bad news for California (assuming it survives the global warming and doesn't fall off the edge of the U.S. as has been predicted for many years now), pretty good news for Seattle's Puget Sound and Oregon's Willamette Valley.  Within 30 years, it's conceivable that California will grow too warm to sustain fine-wine grapes, and other regions will prosper.

A federal agency report in 2009 found that average U.S. temperatures could increase 2 to 4 degrees by 2020 (though with 8 inches of snow on the ground outside my window, that seems like a remote thought).  That's an increase of 2-4 degrees over 1970's averages, which doesn't seem like a huge increase, but you need to consider it's over a relatively short time frame.  According to Noah Diffenbaugh, a climate scientist at Stanford University, the best grapes "grow in a narrow geographic range that exhibits a narrow climate envelope."  So, apparently Noah knows climates and wine.

USA Today further reports that warming overall has meant that areas not generally associated with wine are becoming bigger players in the industry. If you've been paying attention to the wine world, I bet you could name a few.  Puget Sound is a newbie - wine-grape growing was not even possible there until the 1970's.  Southern England, Tasmania (Australia), New Zealand's South Island and Canada's Okanagan Valley in British Columbia are coming along as well, according to Gregory Jones, a research climatologist and wine-grape expert at Southern Oregon University in Ashland.  I can attest to the Okanagan Valley wines - tasted some of their "boutique" wines several years ago and they were quite tasty.  Not only is the wine pretty good, it's a lovely area of our country to visit.  Another wine area that is changing for the better is New York's Finger Lakes region.  In the late 70's/early 80's they were known for sweet wines with names like Niagara and Catawba - and I'm telling you - they were really sweet (not unlike many Ohio wines today).  Now, the Finger Lakes region is producing very nice wines that would make anyone proud to serve (though you have to pick and choose).

In California, a paper suggesting that 50% of the state's premium wine-grape growing areas could become too hot to grow high-quality grapes by 2039 stirred intense debate among grape growers.  It was published this past summer in the journal Environmental Research Letters.

"Climate change can and will affect all fine wine-growing regions worldwide, but the results will not necessarily be a blanket effect," the Napa Valley Vintners said in a statement (what else could they say?)

Other scientists are more concerned with wide swings in termperatures and timing of seasons.  "We're in a much more variable climatic structure right now," Southern Oregon's Jones says. 

"The pace of change proected for this century is far beyond what previous generations of farmers have had to face," Cornell's Wolfe says.

Something to think about, as we sip our California, NY, OR or French wine this evening.

Firesteed Cellars, Rickreall, Oregon

Snow fell heavily in most of the midwest and northeast over the weekend.  Cold, snowy weather outside is always a reason for me to build a fire in the fireplace and enjoy a nice red wine and a good book inside. 

I had been looking for another bottle of the 14 Hands merlot at the wine store, when the clerk recommended this wine, the Firesteed 2007 Pinot Noir, instead.  After reading the wine notes on the label, I thought I'd give it a shot.  "A bright, easy to drink version of the classic Burgundian grape, this pinot noir is a medium-bodied red wine with exuberant (exuberant?)cherry and berry fruit flavors and aromoas."  "Ok", I thought to myself, "I'll try it this weekend.  Who can walk away from EXUBERANT on a snowy February evening in Ohio?"

I've enjoyed Oregon wines before and I was definitely open to trying a new one - even though it was from a "cellars", not a winery.  If you remember, "cellars" will typically buy grapes from vineyards and create their own wines, "wineries" grow their own grapes and develop their own wines.  In many cases, it's a minor difference, and one I try not to get too snobby about.  Besides, I liked their rendition of a horse on the label.

I opened it on Saturday night and enjoyed my first glass.  It is a rich medium-bodied wine, as promised on the label.  At first the spicyness threw me off.  It was almost smoky and tobacco-filled.  But the second glass was smooth and filled with a blend of summer fruits - raspberry and strawberry especially came through.  The Firesteed Pinot Noir is an elegant dinner wine and has a very nice finish.  I would recommend it with pork or chicken, or just one or two glasses on their own.  This particular wine is 12.4% alcohol and was born from grapes sourced from throughout the Willamette, Umpqua, Rogue and Walla Walla Valleys, creating a truly Oregon blend.  The grapes were fermented in stainless steel tanks with selected yeasts propagated from cellars in Burgundy, pressed during the last days of fermentation, and racked as soon as the wine finished malolactic fermentation. Just a touch of barrel-aged wine (about 20%) was included in the blend to round out the flavors and enhance complexity

Apparently Firesteed began its life as a "virtual winery" in Oregon, buying grapes from around the region and processing them at a local winery who had extra capacity.  In 2003, Firesteed purchased Flynn vineyards and developed the brand into a "traditional" winery in Oregon.  I don't know their reasoning for this - maybe it was the right price, right place, right time to buy a winery and surrounding vineyards.  Maybe the owner just wanted a cool tasting room.  Who knows?

I'd recommend a stop at their tasting room and retail shop.  Next time I'm in the area, I will definitely make a point to visit.  Their  hours are daily from 11am to 5pm. (I still think it's so funny that many Oregon wineries close their tasting rooms at 5....)  Located 13 miles west of Salem, Oregon and 2 miles north of the intersection of Pacific Highway (99W) and Highway 22.