One of the largest family-owned wineries in the United States, Jackson Family Wines, is facing climate change head-on, even as experts predict falling grape yields because of shifting weather patterns, says The New York Times. The makers of Kendall-Jackson chardonnay, a “supermarket staple,” the Jackson clan has deployed high-tech water-efficiency programs, drones and old-school falcons to manage pests in the wake of California’s drought and higher temperatures.
“Several reports suggest that rising temperatures around the globe could imperil major winemaking regions in the coming decades. One study suggested that by 2050, many regions in Europe, including much of Italy and swaths of southern France, could become unsuitable for wine grapes. The same study suggested that California production could fall by 70 percent by the century’s midpoint,” says the Times.
The family has added 100 reservoirs, some of which cost 1.5 million to construct, to their vineyards in order to conserve water. A solar-powered weather station monitors temperatures. “If the sensors decide it has become too cold in the middle of the night (climate change, of course, doesn’t mean it’s always hot), new wind machines will automatically start circulating warm air to protect the vines,” says the Times. Meanwhile, drones keep tabs on nutrients and moisture content in grapes, alerting the farm operators if there is a problem.
“[The Jacksons] are leaders,” said Rex Stults, government relations director of Napa Valley Vintners, a trade group. “But this is becoming an important topic for just about everybody.” The California wine industry adds $114 billion a year to the nation’s economy, and the threat posed by climate change is forcing many vintners to take an honest look at their climate-affected prospects, as grapes ripen earlier in the year and aquifers run dry.