Weed in Napa Valley

Napa Valley is world famous for its world-class Cabernet Sauvignon. They actually grow other grapes, too! But not much else. This is a potential problem.

image from northbaybusinessjournal.com

Napa's agriculture is nearly 100% wine grapes. The vineyards are packed together throughout the valley. It's known as monocropping. There are farming issues with various insect or blight problems in the past. Every couple years there seems to be a new potential danger to the grape crop -- phylloxera, glassy-winged sharpshooter, western grapeleaf skeletonizer moth, and other bugs you've never heard of. Of those phylloxera did pretty much wipe out the grape crop a couple times and could do it again.

Other than pests there is the issue of climate change and what will happen with Napa's Cabernet crop. Will it stay the same, will the wine be different, will Cab not grow there at all? Will drinking trends move away from Cabernet to some other grape or even some other beverage? Napa is all in on Cab and that's risky. Some feel they must diversify. Cannabis is legal, but many don't want the weed business anywhere near their homes or their vineyards.

What if Napa lent its name to the legal cannabis business? What if it was grown and produced in Napa with the prestigious Napa name on the label? Some believe cannabis is the new California gold rush and there is money flowing in to get businesses going. Napa, however, it an expensive place to farm because of high land values. That problem would have to be solved.

Other places see the potential to being "the Napa Valley of cannabis." Maybe Napa Valley should be that location.