The Winery Babs of Santa Barbara County of California

Given the sheer climatic diversity, the California 2022 harvest was a story of variability, specific varieties and varied approaches to making it all work out. Yields are down, nearly across the board. Still, winemakers and vineyard managers report high-quality fruit throughout the state, and the prediction is that the potential for fantastic, complex wines is high. There was tremendous variability up and down (as well as across) the state. An uneven growing season, with uneven effects throughou ...

Corriedale sheep snack on weeds among rows of vines; along the way, they fertilise the soil, adding nitrogen, phosphorus, and calcium. Owls and bats swoop from vineyard boxes from dusk ’til dawn, eliminating vine-root-eating gophers and grapevine moths. Native flowering plants create sanctuaries for beneficial insects. Such a menagerie of wildlife would have been unlikely decades ago. Still, the commitment to organic and biodynamic viticulture has pushed some California wine producers to l ...

In many cases, the winter storms that have lashed California have resulted in tragedy, severe property loss, and the deaths of at least 20 people. In a state that has been in the grips of drought for 20 years, it is a complicated scenario where the much-needed rain is a welcome respite. As an illustration of the chaos that climate change has brought to California’s weather patterns, the Los Angeles Times reported on 14 December that the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California had just ...