Grapevine: The California Drought’s Effect on the Wine Industry
Did you happen to see the photos on the front page of The New York Times last week depicting the effects of the four-year-long California drought?
The photos accompanied the report that Gov. Jerry Brown had mandated water use reductions for the first time in California’s history. His executive order imposed a 25 percent usage reduction, affecting about 90 percent of residents.
The three photos vividly present the dilemma facing the state: a depleted lake bed with dozens of stranded houseboats that proportionately seem the size of Matchbox toys from yesteryear; another lake bed that is completely dry, cracked and sprouting drought-hardy weeds; and skiers wending their way along small patches of snow on an otherwise brown ski slope.
With the sparse water surface reserves, the depletion of underground wells and, perhaps most important, the reduction of the water supply from a federal irrigation system, this year’s effects are anticipated to be more onerous to the state economy than any of the three previous years. For decades, the federal program has supplied water to the heartland of the California agriculture industry. Nearly three million acres – one third of the agricultural land in the state — have relied on this source.
As precious water resources dry up, so goes the economy. It is anticipated that the business loss in 2015 may approach $3 billion. The areas most affected are in the Central Valley, home to farms cultivating tomatoes, lettuce and other vegetables. Long a source to the rest of the U.S. food markets, such an impact would seriously affect local farmers’ revenues.
An increase in consumer prices would logically seem to be in lockstep with reduced crops of these staples. However, in the modern era of global food-sourcing and long-distance transportation logistics, this has not been the case.
Neither the storyline nor the photos presented the effects of the drought on California’s vineyards. I began to ponder the continuing and future effect of the water shortage on the unique attributes of the California wine industry.
First, a severe lack of water for products with short life spans (several months), such as tomatoes, lettuce and peppers, is devastating. Root systems are shallow and dry out quickly. By contrast, grapevines have typical lifespans of 40 to 50 years; Zinfandel vines over 100 years old are growing today in California. This long lifespan allows vines to send roots deep into the ground, some to a depth of 100 feet. Here they can tap into water supplies unavailable to other crops.
Second, as naturally drought-resistant plants, many varieties of grapevines can tolerate reductions in available water of up to 40 percent, a survival edge unmatched in much of the agricultural industry.
Third, the lifecycle of any plant dictates that it ultimately must reproduce itself. Grapevines produce clusters of grapes to achieve their immortality. When stressed, many vines begin to shut down production of leaves and grapes, focusing instead on producing stringer grapes. For a grapevine, this fight for survival typically results in smaller yields with more concentrated fruit and greater potential for exceptional flavor and aging.
In fact, winemakers may intentionally stress the grapevines in their vineyards in order to produce concentrated wines that will command higher prices in the marketplace. In its extreme form, this is termed dry farming, wherein grapevines must sustain themselves solely on natural rainfall. A number of the most famous wines of California are produced in this manner.
What does the future hold for the California wine industry? In the short term, the economy seems resilient. The 2014 wine harvest was the third largest on record, receiving high acclaim for its quality. But is this sustainable?
For that matter, what does the future hold for the water-stressed macro economy of California? NASA recently issued a report projecting that in the next several decades the Southwest and the Central Plains could suffer the worst droughts in 1,000 years. This is not very encouraging news to anyone – farmers or residents – living in that great swath of green America in 2015.
Nick Antonaccio is a 35-year Pleasantville resident. For over 15 years he has conducted wine tastings and lectures. He also offers personalized wine tastings and wine travel services. Nick’s credo: continuous experimenting results in instinctive behavior. You can reach him at nantonaccio@theexaminernews.com or on Twitter @sharingwine.
