The Great Grape Migration

As temperatures warm, vineyards will have to move. Premium grapes are very susceptible to temperature changes, as each variety operates in a small window of temperatures.

The steady march of increasing temps
Click on image to enlarge
Graph from American Assoc of Wine Economists

Still not sold on climate change? It doesn't matter because it's happening and will continue to happen with or without your approval.

Grape migration

Where the wine grapes will move to find a cooler region.

• North in the Northern Hemisphere, south in the Southern. Closer to the poles it's cooler, of course. Up until now, the sweet spot for wine grapes has been between the 30th and 50th parallels of latitude.
• Move up in elevation to find cooler weather. Mountain fruit, as it's called, has its own distinct characteristics, including more tannin from thicker grape skins, higher acid from cooler weather, and it picks up flavors from the different soils.
• Moving towards an influence of large bodies of water for a cooler microclimate - the Pacific Ocean, the Great Lakes, and so on.

Potential problems

New areas that have not had vineyards require finding a water source, planting in suitable soils, and knowing enough about the local climate to anticipate issues with summer rains, winter freezes, etc. Much of California is near perfect in its soils, and warm days, cool nights with dry weather during the growing season.

Sonoma County

Sonoma might be in a spot not requiring much change. The county has a variable climate with the cool Pacific to the west, numerous mountain ranges that cut off the flow of cooler air, and the Russian River creating an array of microclimates. The diversity of terrain along with the ancient volcanism give plenty of soil types.

Moving wine grapes towards the cooler coast or higher elevations, or both, may alleviate some of the problems.

Or maybe southern Oregon becomes the next Napa Valley.

Northern California's Humboldt County coast
A future home for Pinot Noir?