“Fire burn and cauldron bubble”
Wildfires ravage France and Spain and rage along the Pacific Coast. Record heat bakes California and beyond. It feels as if the world is on fire.
Rising temperatures driven by climate change increase the risk of dangerous wildfires, and a dystopian cycle continues.
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The U.S. National Interagency Fire Center reported yesterday that so far this year, 43,264 fires have burned more than 4.66 million acres across the United States, exceeding the 10-year average for both the number of fires and acres burned.
A total of 27,038 firefighters and support personnel were engaged in nationwide fire activity, the agency said, including 587 crews, 1,615 engines, and 200 helicopters. Similar numbers are piling up across Europe amid record heat waves and fires.
“In France, more than 160,000 hectares have burned and some 13,566 fires or outbreaks have been recorded so far this season,” the South Atlantic news agency MercoPress wrote this week.
Amid all these real threats to life and property as major cities lie in the path of wildfires, it might feel more than a little self-indulgent to worry about wine.
But a subject as narrow as wine, a topic that brings us together in shared interest, can illustrate the broader issue in a way that touches us where we live. Extreme heat can damage grapes or even the vines, prompt too-rapid ripening or alter the natural acidity and sugars in the grapes.
Wildfires in the immediate area or even at a distance from a vineyard can impart damaging “smoke taint,” an unpleasant smoky flavor that remains in the finished wine. This has been a real issue in the U.S. and Canada, and it’s a serious threat in Bordeaux, France, and Spanish wine regions this year.
In the Los Angeles Times last week, Staff Writer Corinne Purtill dug deeply into the threat to California’s wine industry in Boiling Point – How climate change could redraw California’s wine map.
“The U.S. is the largest wine-producing country outside Europe, and 80% of that output comes from California,” Purtill wrote. “For an industry in which even subtle shifts in temperature or humidity can transform a harvest’s value, increasing extremes and unpredictability pose an existential threat.”
Researchers from Japan’s Tohoku University recently analyzed California’s wine cultivation suitability over time and basically found a redrawn map of California’s prime wine regions. Based on changing precipitation, temperatures, and moisture in the air, the scientists foresee declining suitability for grape cultivation over the next 70 years in the prime Napa and Sonoma wine regions.
This is not entirely new. In 2011, a Stanford University study projected that land suitable for cultivating premium wine grapes in California’s North Coast region, which includes Napa and Sonoma, could halve by 2040. Winegrape-bearing acreage in California has shrunk steadily since 2013.
The entire long article is worth your attention. You can view it at The Los Angeles Times or, if you’re a subscriber, on Apple News Plus.
I found hope in this week’s featured wine, Broc Cellars 2023 “Love” California Red Blend. A combination of dry-farmed, organic Carignan (73%), Syrah (14%), Grenache Gris (10%), Valdiguié (2%), and Trousseau Noi (1%) grapes from 70-plus-year-old vines in Mendocino County and Solano County’s Green Valley, it’s a natural wine made in the style of a California heritage field blend that workers might have enjoyed after a long day in the vineyard.
Normally, this wine’s mid-$20s price would keep it behind our subscriber paywall. But because a production error sent last week’s column to paying subscribers only, I’m opening this column to all subscribers as a midsummer gift. (Last week’s column is now open to all as well. If you missed it, you can read it here.)
Wildfires and dangerous heat waves are in the news this summer. How do you think this might affect the world of wine?
Today’s Tasting Report
Broc Cellars 2023 “Love” California Red Blend ($23.99)
Broc Cellars 2023 “Love” California Red Blend is a dark ruby-color wine made in the style of a California heritage field blend dry-farmed, organic Carignan, Syrah, Grenache Gris, Valdiguié, and Trousseau Noir grapes from Mendocino County and Solano County’s Green Valley. It seems simply quaffable at first but gains layers of complexity and depth as it opens in the glass, revealing cranberry, blueberry, tart cherry, and red plum flavors shaped by mouth-watering acidity and soft but persistent tannins. 12.5% alcohol. (July 25, 2026)
FOOD MATCH: The winery suggests a couple of world-food options: Spicy Indian samosas or Vietnamese shaking beef. It would be fine with burgers or steaks, pizza, or hearty bean dishes.
WHEN TO DRINK: It’s highly enjoyable now, but being made in the style of wines for immediate enjoyment and using natural processes that don’t invite aging, I wouldn’t try to cellar this one.
VALUE:
Wine-Searcher.com’s $24 average U.S. retail matches my local price and the winery’s suggested $25 tab. It’s a good wine, and this is in line with similar California offerings.
WEB LINK:
Here’s the winery’s fact sheet on the “Love” red blend. For more about Broc Cellars and its philosophy, see About Broc Cellars.
FIND THIS WINE ONLINE:
Check prices and find vendors for Broc Cellars 2023 “Love” Red Blend on Wine-Searcher.com.
Browse vendors, prices, and ratings for Broc Cellars wines at this Wine-Searcher link.
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Wine-Searcher.com is the place to go online if you want to find where to buy a particular wine that interests you. What’s more, Wine-Searcher.com offers so much more. It’s well worth a visit just to discover its many features, including its popular list of the world’s Top 10 Best Value Wines.
Good wines we’ve tried under $12!
Want tips to still more good, inexpensive wines? Here are Wine-Searcher links to vendors and prices for a bunch more wines for $12 or less that I’ve told you about in recent years. In some cases, the prices may have risen since I reviewed them, but they should still be excellent bargains. Please tell us about your favorites!
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