Study suggests Napa / Sonoma viticulture climate may not persist
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I only read the abstract and BRIEFLY skimmed the paper because it had enough obvious errors that the full paper isn’t worth reading in detail. This is the problem with modeling papers that lack any context or practical knowledge of the field. People get excited about their models and don’t stop to think about whether or not they make any actual sense.
They say Mendocino is at a decreased risk of extreme fire events over time. That does make any sense. My guess is that in part this is due to the fact that they are using annual mean values for precipitation and vapor pressure deficit. But annual means for those values are almost meaningless in California because it only rains in winter and spring. Since they harp on about wildfire risk, what happens during the dry season is much more important.
They say that Chardonnay will be better in most years but worse in fire years. White wines largely aren’t impacted by smoke. So…no.
These people don’t seem to know anything about grape growing, wine making, or California’s regional climates, so they are not equipped to do this analysis. And they didn’t seem to think to consult anyone who does know about those things, so now this meaningless paper is out in the world to mislead people.
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Meanwhile in Bordeaux
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