|
Over the last few years, changing weather and catastrophic fires have impacted Northern California's wine country.But this year, many winemakers across the state are hopeful, as an extra wet season hit California during its winter months.In Amador County, vineyards are still recovering from major losses they've experienced over the last few years due to changing climate and a pandemic.At PleinAir Vineyards in Fiddletown, owner Tom Malone said this year's rainfall brought 60 inches of water, letting him control how big his crop will be this year — and a completely different story from last year."Last year, we actually had frost here, so this vineyard here – I had no fruit. The frost killed all my fruit last year, and so, this year, the plants are making up for it, I think," Malone said.In previous years, Malone, like Mark Fowler at Andis Wines, had to buy a lot of fruit to produce their wine.This year, watering has been minimal.Standing in their Plymouth vineyard between rows of Sauvignon Blanc and Grenache Blanc wine grapes, Fowler recalled that due to the frost, fires, and the drought."We saw about 60% or 70% loss rate in this section right here," Fowler said. In 2020, it was estimated that more than $600 million in grape crop value were lost due to fire and smoke damage in California.But 2023's record rainfall throughout the state has created lush and bountiful vineyards with grape plants "that just won't stop growing."Malone said he now has more fruit than he wants. Harvesting since 2018, he adds that this is going to be his best year.The only downside for a few winemakers is a harvest delay of a few weeks, but they're sure that 2023 is going to be a great year for California wine.A report commissioned by the Wine Institute and the California Association of Winegrape Growers shows that California's wine and winegrape sectors bring in a $73 billion economic contribution to the state, annually, and it generates 1.1 million jobs nationwide.
|
|
原文来源：https://www.kcra.com/article/amador-county-wine-grapes-recover-from-wildfires/44593877#
|
