Impact of Climate Change on California Wine Regions Focus of UC Davis Discussion
Free Online Panel Is Nov. 10
By Jessica Nusbaum on October 30, 2020
The impact of climate change on the ability of California’s premier wine regions to grow grape varieties like chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon, and the need to plan — and plant — for the future, will be the topic of a public online panel discussion hosted by the University of California, Davis, at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 10.
The panel will include Esther Mobley, who writes about wine for the San Francisco Chronicle and has covered the effects of climate change on the Napa Valley; Dan Petroski, winemaker for Larkmead Vineyards, who is at the forefront of the discussion about the need for Napa Valley winemakers to identify solutions to rising temperatures; and UC Davis Assistant Professor Elisabeth Forrestel, who researches how wild and cultivated grape vines adapt to drought and heat stress.
Petroski and Forrestel will both also share their experiences on the ground. Forrestel has started an international initiative focused on the adaptation of vineyards to changing climates, with initial plantings of cultivars with wine-making potential under warmer and drier conditions already underway in Napa and Davis. Petroski planted a new experimental vineyard at Larkmead last year to test grape varieties from the Southern Hemisphere and southern Mediterranean.