The dark side of pinot noir: Climate change forcing Napa vintners to make hard choices

FARMERS MAY GENERALLY SKEW to the right politically, but few California grape growers champion a favorite conservative talking point: climate change is overblown. The shifting climate is a deep concern in Wine Country, and climbing temperatures are affecting how and where grapes are grown — most particularly in the Carneros Region, a coastal portion of Napa County long celebrated for its pinot noir wines.

Pinot noir is the constituent grape of France’s hallowed red Burgundy, and it has produced wines of comparable quality in some portions of California. Even more than other esteemed varieties such as cabernet sauvignon, pinot noir is challenging to cultivate. It is thin-skinned and delicate, requiring moderately warm days and cool nights to enhance the characteristics that ultimately result in complex, well-balanced and delicious wines.