Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
during the first two decades of statehood. He toured Europe to survey
the state of winegrape growing and winemaking, and brought back some
200,000 cuttings to plant in his Sonoma County vineyard. He relent-
lessly promoted scientific viticulture and experimenting with varietals to
determine which did best in particular production regions, demonstrat-
ing the diversity of farming conditions under which winegrapes could be
cultivated.
Prohibition dealt a harsh blow to winemaking, setting back wine qual-
ity for decades. The year 1976 marked California wine quality coming
of age when blind taste tests revealed Napa wines to be superior to
French in Paris by French experts. The “Judgment at Paris” transformed
the California wine industry because winegrape growers and wineries
realized they could make far more money by pursuing the quality market.
In
Bottled Poetry
, Jim Lapsley explained how Napa Valley wineries
and grape growers undertook quality improvements with a near-
religious zealotry starting in the 1950s.
1
California winegrape growers
and wineries have worked together for decades to improve wine quality
and differentiate their product in a highly segmented market. They have
profited from improving the quality of their product, branding their
place of production, and conveying knowledge about production condi-
tions through labels to consumers. The California wine industry's ability
to capture economic benefits from the premium market was made possi-
ble by the circulation of better knowledge between scientists, growers
and wineries, and growers' ability to feed that information back into
their vineyard practices.
2
Four main factors determine superior wine: environmental conditions
of production, varietal selection, vine management, and winemaking
skills. The first has contributed to the importance of winegrape growing
districts, described in the previous chapter. Once a vineyard is planted,
there is precious little one can do to influence soils or climate. The
French word “terroir” communicates their importance to quality, but it
does not translate easily to American viticulture.
3
The acid and flavor
content of grapes in particular depends on temperature fluctuations
caused by warm days and cool nights just prior to harvest.
The winegrape grower's chief responsibility in this system of produc-
tion is to manage the grapes so they can be harvested at their peak.
Premium wineries measure quality by ripeness, flavors (acids, etc.), Ph,
