A Single, Excellent Wine Is Silver Lining for Struggling California Vineyard

After a captivating visit to Robert Sinskey Vineyards last spring, we didn’t know there was trouble brewing under the hood — or in the tank, as it were. Sure, the charred remains of the historic Napa Valley Stag’s Leap vineyard loomed above us while we sipped our samples and nibbled the delightful snacks sourced from organic gardens, but this prestigious plot was only a tiny slice of their 200 acres; the rest were safe and sound down the road in Carneros.Beyond the vestiges of gnarled trunks that burned in the 2020 Glass Fire, the only clue of something amiss was the black singe along the back wall of their beautiful tasting room. The fire had come right to the edge and turned back: The Sinskeys were saved.Or were they? Climate change has not been kind to many wine regions, and 2021 was about as bad as it has ever been. France saw the worst frosts on record, with some growers in Burgundy, the Loire, and Champagne losing 90-100 percent of their crops. Germany’s Ahr valley experienced torrential flooding that ripped old vines off the hillsides and swept away innocent farmers along with them. Here in California, we had one of the driest years on record — a detriment to yields and vine health, and adding kindling for next year’s fire season.Amid seemingly endless drought, many winemakers haven’t turned a profit since 2017, when the Tubb Fire destroyed more than 100,000 acres in Napa and Sonoma. Add in Covid-19, which forced the closure of the Sinskey tasting room and restaurant, and they just can’t seem to catch a break. Government insurance is inadequate at best and prohibitively expensive, with rates increasing every year and the payouts equaling only fractions of full costs. Robert Sinskey says his eponymous estate is a vertically integrated, organically farmed operation, meaning it grows all its own fruit and is wholly responsible for the associated costs. No relief has been offered and everyone has had to get creative, with some resorting to drastic measures. The iconic Shafer Vineyards, a neighbor that is about the same size as Sinskey, decided it could no longer take the heat and sold to a Korean luxury brand for $250 million earlier this year.Sinskey’s groundwater is all but gone and the catchment ponds are dry for the first time in 35 years. This meant vines were thirsty, and Mr. Sinskey and his vineyard manager had to make a tough choice: Make wine or save the vines?Vines can survive with much less water than most plants. Variables like temperature, planting density, grape variety, age, aspect, drainage, humidity, and soil health come into play. Young vines tend to need more water than older vines, and vines planted on free-draining soils like gravel need more than those on water-retaining ones, like clay.The more water you have, the more grapes you can grow. Too much water can lead to dilute grapes and poor-quality wines. Too little water, on the other hand, can mean super low grape counts or even death for a vine. The hotter the temperature, the more water a vine needs — and the faster the surrounding water sources evaporate, the less it rains where you need it. It’s just another aspect of the vicious cycle of climate change. Mr. Sinksey, who first planted in the 1980s, said he took a page from his established neighbors: “I saw the legacy wineries had a lot of fallow land. Valuable land in Carneros.” They did this as a way of dealing with consumers’ changing tastes that didn’t involve ripping out Pinot Noir to replant Chardonnay when it was “king of the hill.”The team at Robert Sinskey Vineyards made the decision to produce only one wine in 2021, the very popular Vin Gris of Pinot Noir. When asked exactly why, Mr. Sinksey said: “If I’m not gonna make a profit in five years, I need to cut costs, hedge my bets, and only bring in fruit before smoke taint, that is the rosé.” The move also would conserve water, giving the rest of the 200-acre spread a chance to survive instead of forcing fruit production.Even with the extra attention and a few more blocks of vines dedicated to Vin Gris production, the production was down by 30 percent. The silver lining is that it was of outstanding quality: Tiny berries have an excellent skin-to-juice ratio, for more flavor intensity, and higher acid-to-sugar ratio, for brighter acidity and more taut structure. We look forward to this wine every vintage, but this year we are cherishing our chance to drink the one wine that made it through to the other side. The bottom line: The situation is dire for farmers and winemakers up and down the West Coast. This is the driest year Napa has seen in 450 years, and we can expect fires to continue to wreak havoc. If further consolidation of family properties is the only option, we can all expect to see fewer and more expensive wines coming out of the U.S., a move harmful to farmers and consumers alike.

A Single, Excellent Wine Is Silver Lining for Struggling California Vineyard

More from the New York Sun

‘Ulster American’ Is a Bawdy Send Up of Progressive Pieties — and an Irreverent Inquiry Into Irishness

Republican Congressman Calls for Tucker Carlson To Be Prosecuted for ‘Treason’ for Pre-War Contact With Iranians

More from the New York Sun

‘Ulster American’ Is a Bawdy Send Up of Progressive Pieties — and an Irreverent Inquiry Into Irishness

Republican Congressman Calls for Tucker Carlson To Be Prosecuted for ‘Treason’ for Pre-War Contact With Iranians

American Socialists To Join New Cuba Aid Flotilla Despite Hints of Negotiations Aimed at Ousting Communist Leadership

Trump’s Pared-Back Tariffs Return to Trade Court Under New Legal Rationale

North Korean Leader’s Daughter, 13, Shows Up at Missile-Firing Exercise Looking All the More Like His Heir Apparent

Sherlock Holmes and the Mystery of the Unfaithful Hollywood Adaptation

Will Hollywood Bite Its Tongue at the Oscars?

Reuters Claims To Have Unmasked Banksy After Extensive Investigation