Cabernet Sauvignon is king in Napa Valley. 51 percent of the area’s 46,000 acres of wine grapes are devoted to the varietal. Chardonnay grapes, which come in on number two, occupy just over 6000 acres, and while more than 30 other wine grape varieties are grown here, none of them come with the kind of bragging rights that the coveted “cab” does.
But as secure as the reign of Cabernet Sauvignon may seem, some think we shouldn’t take it for granted.
“I think you’d be foolish to believe Napa Valley is going to look exactly like this 30 years from now. I don’t think Sonoma is going to look like Sonoma 30 years from now,” says Dan Petroski, winemaker at Larkmead Vineyards in Calistoga.
Petroski, along with other Napa Valley winemakers, thinks climate change — rising temperatures, droughts, extreme weather — might dramatically alter the local winegrowing landscape. To prepare for such a scenario, he is now looking at grapes from warmer regions around the world and thinking about how they might be implemented in Napa Valley 20 to 30 years from now.
To get a better idea, he’s about to start experimenting with some of these warmer-climate grapes in Larkmead’s vineyards. The Calistoga winery is currently dedicating three acres out of their 110-acre estate to a “viticultural research block.” The experimental vineyard will initially be planted with seven red grape varieties and one white.
“My number one objective for these seven red grape varieties is that they have the ability to blend well with Cabernet, as a supporting actor until Cabernet can’t be used anymore,” says Petroski. “We’re trying to get a head start on this whole process. I don’t want 2040 to roll around and we’re sitting on our heels going ‘alright, what are we going to plant now, when it’s too hot for Cabernet?’”
The three-acre plot will be planted in the late spring or early summer of 2020 with Chenin Blanc, Petite Sirah and Zinfandel, alongside varieties such as Aglianico, Tempranillo, Touriga Nacional, Charbono and Syrah.
But planting, growing, harvesting, aging, bottling, and finally seeing what customers think of the wines will take time.
Expected to last 21 years, the project will be divided into three phases — the upcoming planting is part of the first phase. Every seven years, Petroski hopes to find one or two grape varieties that will do well at the winery.
Founded in 1895, Larkmead will celebrate its 125th anniversary in 2020. This isn’t the first time the winery has been involved in viticultural research. In the 1940s, a Cabernet Sauvignon clone commonly known as the “Oakville selection” was developed here by UC Davis viticulturist Dr. Harold Olmo.
A newly installed walkway leads the way to the winery’s research block. It’s a path Petroski hopes will encourage conversations with visitors about the future.
“It’s hard to tell people Cabernet is going to die. It’s hard to say it’s over because it’s still our lifeblood. It’s the beating heart of what we do and we do it really well,” says Petroski. “Some of the best wines in the world are made here in the Napa Valley, so it’s hard to have that conversation. But I think the other side of that conversation is that we’re forward-thinking. We are evaluating, we’re looking to the future.”
change today. But after watching this film https://allatra.tv/en/video/climate-change-the-beginning-of-a-big-disaster it became clear to me that today we should start to act even more globally, if not yesterday, to change and prepare the whole society! I was very inspired by the information that it is possible to avoid many catastrophic consequences!
while I’m all for testing new varietals in Napa the “chicken little” approach to the doom and gloom of Cab Sauv. is over the top… I recall many harvests in Napa in the 90’s with triple digits for weeks (110-115 daily highs), and nobody was wringing their hands over a global shift in climate much less fret over how their vineyards would perform 30 years in the future…
By all means test more wine! But, before you panic: http://www.realclimatenews.com
Of course there is now, and there has always been climate change. It’s the story of this planet proven by the multi-million year old strato-geographical historical record. (read Charles Lyell, Principles of Geology) But predicting climate change is the work of crackpot researchers who enjoy the power of making “scientific” pronouncements that are intended to scare people and expand the power the crackpots already have.
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WARMER CLIMATE CABERNET SAUVIGNON…. And I must ask the obvious question. Since the original Cab came from seeds, and there is known variation among seedlings, why aren’t people planting Cab from seed and testing the seedlings in slightly warmer areas? I am impressed with my limited results so far in Costa Rica. No Cab yet…
There is no such thing as “climate change”! Anyone making policy or commercial decisions based on the delusions of a few crackpot “researchers” whose models can’t even predict historical weather – needs serious help.
Hello
We are testing grape varieties in Costa Rica. Zero cold weather and 150 inches of rain April to December. Out of 20 or so varieties planted last year, we have about 6 that are very fungus resistant, one is a vinifera table grape from seed. We would LOVE to get seeds sent by mail (not plants) of various wine grapes to try here. Can anyone help? Maybe 100 seeds each.
Seeds of wine grapes on ebay – mostly from China of course – are all dead. Others of table grapes from US and Europe do okay. It seems strange that nobody with vineyards sells seeds! Our budget is limited but we can gladly pay postage and package.
Jesse Blenn
Apdo 1123
Guadalupe 10801
Costa Rica
Jesse- grape seeds will be a difficult way to begin you research. 95% will be either Male or female and therefore produce no or very few grape . Of the perfect or self fertile few they won’t closely resemble their parent as they will be self crossed dwarfs.
What you need are Clonal cuttings of the desired varieties selected from virus free sources.
Best of luck as I wish you all possible success.
I don’t agree, and I remain open to help. Clearly you recommend supporting the established commercial system not real experimentation. I recommend T.V. Munson’s example. For example I have a friend Virgilio Vidor here in Costa Rica who has developed several useful hybrids in his backyard. However, he uses antifungal sprays and I don’t. I let nature weed out the weak ones, it saves me later frustration and expense.