Is global warming real? Well, if it is, many of the world’s most acclaimed wine regions could be negatively impacted.
If northern California were to warm by just 2 to 3 degrees over the next 50 years, the impact on the Napa Valley could be disastrous.
Winegrapes love hot days, so that would be no problem, but they also require cool nights — and that’s where the potential trouble looms.
“I never like to say that Napa will be no more,” research climatologist Gregory Jones told USA Weekend, “but any more warming will push Napa to the upper limit of the fairly hot climates in terms of grape growing.”
At the very least, that could change the varietal mix of winegrapes grown in Napa.
