At breakfast this morning, I was reading a piece in last week's 'On Wine' section of The Napa Valley Register about climate change. The headline of the article read: Trump administration and the wine industry. Under the guise of a business related feature, the column contained a comment from some Harvard professor or other who said, "that the land suitable for grapegrowing could shrink 23 to 75 percent by 2050." I am assuming the good professor, who was a panelist at the recent Vinexpo in Bordeaux, is referring to existing grape-growing regions and the fact that they could, in the next thirty-odd years, be rendered un-replantable due to global warming.
On the other hand, if the Ivy League scholar is alluding to the planting of new vineyards I'd posit that the Napa Valley has already reached its saturation point, or is very close to it, so it's a moot point. There isn't much available land left; there is no new valley floor being created and there is an on-again, off-again moratorium on hillside vineyards. No land, no planting, no problem. Besides, not every available postage stamp-sized piece of land should have grapes planted on it. Napa needs more housing, open spaces, expanded infrastructure and services for its existing residents. And, of course, dog parks.
And, speaking of dog parks, here is Vinodog 2 surveying her gilded, off-lead doggy-domain which, incidentally, is surrounded by vineyards that until about 14 or 15 years ago used to be cattle grazing land. Progress due to a shift to a preferable, and more profitable, industry? Or a land-use change due to "emissions of heat-trapping gases from fossil-fuel burning...?" Vinodog 2's dog park, and the vineyards surrounding it, may well revert to a more pastoral use of the land, oh, in about 30 years from now.
4 comments:
VG: Wow! Did you major or minor in Political Science at UC Davis (rhetorical)?
Love the photo, essay, and waking me up from thinking "golden" referred to gold ore.
I'll continue to refrain from alienating more folks by not adding my PC incorrect attitudes to your or my blog; I think Thud would agree that 'caution is the better part of valour.'
NHW: Gold ore, golden hills - and those golden hills covered in gold poppies - all adds up to a rather golden place.
As to political incorrectness: I just personally think it is ludicrous to suggest that the current, very famous wine regions around the planet will no longer be producing (in a mere) 30 years time, that's all.
No, no, not me!
NHW: That's one crazy emoji.
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