Sobering news for wine industry
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SCOTT JAGOW: A new study from the National Academy of Sciences has some sobering news for the wine industry. Marketplace’s Stacey Vanek-Smith reports.
STACEY VANEK-SMITH: The report says Napa and Sonoma valleys could face economic ruin by the century’s end as temperatures soar and grapes dry up. It predicts 80 percent of the world’s best wine-regions could face the same fate.
But Terry Hall, with Napa Valley Vintners says his organization has studied the issue extensively and it’s hard to tell how global warming will affect wine regions.
TERRY HALL: There might be more fog intrusion because of the heat of the interior valley here in California, I mean we just don’t know.
Napa produces just four percent of California’s wine, but generates about 20 percent of the industry’s revenue.
Hall says Napa Vintners take the issue very seriously and not just because of wine production.
HALL: If we get to the point where it’s too hot to grow grapes in Northern California, I think we all agree, we have bigger problems than whether or not we can produce a fine Cabernet Sauvignon.
I’m Stacey Vanek-Smith for Marketplace.
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