![]() Sinskey recently ripped out Pinot Noir vines from one of his vineyards in Carneros, one of Napa’s cooler regions, and replanted with heat-friendly Zinfandel and Primitivo. native Rob Sinskey, who runs Robert Sinskey Vineyards. “We used to have one day over 100 degrees every few years,” says L.A. (Napa is just one town in the valley, but everybody uses the term “Napa” as a metonym for the entire area.) Wildfires-once an occasional threat-have ravaged the region in recent years, destroying homes and wineries, and leaving their mark long afterward in the ashtray flavor of wines made from smoke-tainted grapes.Įven when the valley isn’t literally aflame, dramatic heat spikes of late wreak havoc: Grapes ripen too fast, yielding wines too high in alcohol and too low in essential acidity. If Napa Valley is a paradise, though, it’s also a troubled one.Ĭlimate change has been cruel to Napa. It’s also a kind of paradise, bucolic but sophisticated, bathed in a golden light both atmospheric and metaphorical. ![]() ![]() Wine is made in all 50 states and wine grapes are grown in 49 of California’s 58 counties, but Napa Valley is heraldic, not just a wine region but an icon, one of America’s most valuable and illustrious brands. That perfume is also the scent of international acclaim-of legendary status, Olympian prestige. ![]() ![]() The vineyards glow sun-bright with mustard flowers in springtime, turn lush green in summer, blaze yellow and red in autumn as the leaves turn and the promising perfume of fermentation fills the air. Framed by the Vaca and Mayacamas mountains-30 miles long and five miles across at its widest point-Napa Valley is a place of uncommon beauty: Wooded knolls and forested mountain slopes contrast with tracts of vines sprawling across the valley floor and flowing up the hillsides. ![]()
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