California Wine Grapes 1 California Wine Grapes Figure 1. Cabernet Sauvignon Grapes, Yountville, California (Palmer, 2017). Sharon Palmer, RDN Vegetables & Fruit: Farm to Plate Sustainability Master Sustainable Food Systems, Green Mountain College October 15, 2017
10
Embed
California Wine Grapes Wine Grapes 7 California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance Certification based on the assessment of their sustainable practices in wine production (CSWA, n.d.).
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
California Wine Grapes
1
California Wine Grapes
Figure 1. Cabernet Sauvignon Grapes, Yountville, California (Palmer, 2017).
Sharon Palmer, RDN
Vegetables & Fruit: Farm to Plate Sustainability
Master Sustainable Food Systems, Green Mountain College
October 15, 2017
California Wine Grapes
2
Introduction
As I write this report on the value chain of California wine grapes, Napa and Sonoma
Valleys (Fig. 1)—premier wine producing regions in the state, as well as the country and the
entire world—are engulfed in flames from a wild fire. While the loss of life has been
devastating, with 40 deaths and hundreds still missing, the California wine industry is bracing
itself for its own losses (Baron, Almond, & Krieger, 2017). However, like the very California
wine industry itself, the vineyards are a tenacious lot, suffering less impact than wine lovers
feared. Most of the 200,000 acres burned were native vegetation, and even when the flames
leapt at the vineyards the open spacing style of cultivation and green status of the vines preserved
them from fire. An estimated 85% of the grapes had already been harvested when the fire
approached, but the region’s famous Cabernet Sauvignon fruit is still left on the vines. If the
quality of these grapes suffers, consumers might expect bottles to go up 150% (Mohan, 2017).
The story of today’s survival of California’s famous wine region is a symbol of the
rugged endurance, ingenuity, and optimism this industry has mounted over the past two and a
half centuries to become what it is today: The number one wine state in the United States, and
the fourth largest producer in the world (Fig. 2).
History of Wine Production
Humans have been enjoying beverages made from fermented grapes for thousands of
years. The first evidence of wine-making from wild grapes dates back to central China some
9,000 years ago (Borrell, 2009). In Iran’s Zagros Mountains, residue from fermented grapes was
discovered in 7,400-year old jars. However, archaeologists think we’ve been enjoying wine
(Fig. 3) as far back as the Paleolithic period, possibly for its medicinal purposes (Borrell, 2009).
California Wine Grapes
3
Figure 2. The Economic Impact of the California Wine and Winegrape Industry (Wine Institute,
2016).
Wine production took place during civilizations in the late Bronze Age, with evidence of wine
vessels, presses, and cellars during that time. The rise of the Greek and Roman empires brought
wine to the masses, as well as its regulation in attempts to control cultivation and verify its
authenticity. The Romans were the first to categorize wine into a hierarchical system—
California Wine Grapes
4
Figure 3. Drinking Cabernet Sauvignon, Gamble Family Vineyards, Napa Valley, California
(Palmer, 2017).
reminiscent of today’s classification—based on where it was grown, with this tradition
continuing throughout Europe, in particular in France, Germany, Spain, and Italy. It was the
spread of Christianity that brought wine to the forefront, as the Church required a supply of wine
for monks and their guests (Munsie, 2002).
When the Europeans came to the New World, they tried growing wine grapes in the East
Coast, but it didn’t go well due to the climate. They would eventually discover the magic that is
wine grapes kissed by the California sun and nourished by its soils. More than 240 years ago,
Father Junipero established the first winery in a California mission, and then wave after wave of
California Wine Grapes
5
immigrants from France, Germany, and Italy furthered his wine-making tradition, rustic though
it might have been (WIOC, 2012). By the mid-1800s, immigrants started bringing back vines
from Europe to plant in California, slowly influencing the quality of the wines (Munsie, 2002).
But it wasn’t until the “Judgment of Paris” in 1976, during which California wines outshone
French wines in a blind taste test, that California became a hot spot on the wine-making map
(Taber, 2006).
The famous wine critic Robert Parker, is credited for promoting the quality of California
wines to where they are today, with award-winning cult wines going for thousands of dollars per