Even in France, modern varieties of grapes are finally being accepted!

 Check out this article.

In the 1800s and 1900s, France outlawed modern grapes, due to the power of the vinifera grapegrowers' lobby. (They didn't appreciate the threat that the new grapes represented to the old ways.) But modern grapes don't need to be sprayed for mildew, and they have resistance to phylloxera, and these are powerful reasons to grow them. Check out my book Modern Grapes for the Pacific Northwest, for the full story.

A really great French (Provencal) Rose: Jean-Luc Colombo 2018 "La Dame du Rouet" (Aix-en-Provence, Southern Rhone, France)

This was exceptional! A group of us circled our cars, in a lately-very-empty parking lot, and sat on quilts to eat take out from Rallys Pizza tonight, on a sunny sunsetting day in May. How to socialize in the Era of Corona. What good friends!

What a pleasure this wine was! Strawberries and watermelon, but the fruit was restrained. Minerals, but also restrained. What was more prominent was the acidity, yet it was pleasant, and it provided the frame on which to hang the various other enjoyments. Many American winemakers (like me) try to make Statement Wines, and the French sometimes do, but what they're really skilled at is making wines that know how to accompany food without getting in the way. This wine is a perfect example.

4 and a half stars on Vivino, with this comment: "Best Rosé I've ever tasted. Dry and fruity."

OK. Works for me.

We are really screwing up our climate

Read the story here: Budbreak of grapes in France is occurring earlier and earlier, putting the grapes at greater risk of a killing late frost. So grapegrowers are having to implement expensive approaches to fighting frosts. And ironically, they often use smudge pots to make the heat amongst the vines, which contributes to more climate change!

The answer is to globally reduce our hydrocarbon burning, starting with the dirtiest sets of emissions: The burning of coal and oil. It can be done, but we have to do it.

France and Spain moving quickly now to modern grape varieties, to minimize poisonous spraying

THIS is great news. We continue to see reason take hold over senseless attachment to the old ways. Lives of vineyard workers are at stake, not to mention the lives of billions of beneficial worms and microbes in the soil, which inorganic sprays have been killing for decades now.

When France allows modern grapes (after a century of senselessly prohibiting them), you know the tide is turning. Read my book! Modern Grapes for the Pacific Northwest (on Amazon).

Kenton

Vineyards Marching North

This article says that French wineries are buying up land in southern England, in preparation for the continuing climate change which would make it difficult to continue growing Bordeaux varieties in SW France and Rhone varieties in SE France. Those climate changes are already noticeable but the point of Bordeaux leaving Bordeaux is surely not very imminent.  But perhaps it's not as far off as one might think.

We see the same threats mentioned as to Napa Valley in California, and I hear more and more about Syrah planted in the Willamette Valley. Another way this is manifested is the planting of grapes higher and higher up the mountains; as the mountain slopes warm and undergo fewer deep freezes in winter, they become more favorable for grapes. There are wonderful grapes being grown in New Mexico's mountains (check out Gruet sparkling wines), so perhaps we can look for quality vineyards in Colorado's mountains someday? Can you imagine Chardonnay being grown here:

And (this sounds impossible to one who has grown Pinot Noir here in NW Oregon, and so often could not get it fully ripe), could it be that someday NW Oregon will produce a great Cabernet? No, surely that cannot be--Cab is one of the sun-hungriest grapes--but who knows? If a trend continues for long enough, strange things will finally happen.