Napa Valley Cabernets going way of the dinosaurs?

There was an interesting note in The New York Times Magazine two weeks back in its “Green” edition about the impact of climate change in California’s wine country.

The Bordeaux vines that do well in Napa – Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc – do well there because the cool climate keeps them from getting overripe, just as the Bay of Biscay’s influence does so on the Bordeaux vineyards. When these grapes get overripe, alcohol levels soar and so does that jammy, baked taste that horrifies Bordeaux fans. Even fans of massive fruit-bomb reds will often be put off.

Overheating grapes is rare in Napa, because the summer nights are cool. But as the night temperatures rise, even slightly, the vines can’t recover from the heat of the (ever hotter) days. As a wine scholar noted, at that point, Napa starts to look like the Central Valley in California, where most of the state’s “value wine” – ie, the crapola in jugs and boxes – is grown.

That fate is unacceptable for Napa wineries, of course. There are ways to adjust – more shade, raise the vines from the ground, plant vines at differing angles to the sun, and select grapes more carefully so overripe grapes are avoided.

Of course, when all that still doesn’t work and alcohol levels are still unacceptable, there’s the old-fashioned way: dilute the wines. The Times quotes one Napa grower of “elegant Cabernets” thusly: “You use what we call ‘Jesus Units’ because they turn water into wine.” Hmmm …

One grower even suggested that the term “Napa cabernet” may be extinct in the future, as growers move to grapes better used to the heat, such as Syrah, Grenache and Mourvedre.

The Rhone comes to Oakville, Rutherford and St. Helena? Wow.