Too Much of a Good Thing?
I am a Northern Californian born and raised and I was reminded the other day of how California used to be when I took a long hike into the hills recently and saw this:
I grew up in Sacramento when it was still a relatively strong and small agricultural community and when ranchland stretched for mile after mile of glorious, emply plains, hills, little valleys and vernal pools. But things have changed drastically around Sacramento and in general in California. Now, large, vast housing tracts and large, homogenous vineyards have established themselves in these same areas. Yes, these are grapevines for the wine industry. Thousands of acres planted mostly in the last 10 years to grow grapes that mostly are made into low-priced wine.
I guess that my association in the wine industry obligates me to support vineyard establishment, and on the most part I do because I have come to know many dedicated viticulturists over the years. These are folks who are forward-thinking, committed to giving back to the land, and who are conscious of the impact the monoculture a vineyard can have on a landscape and do their best to mitigate that impact. I also tend to support the rights of landowners to do what they want with their land, as well.
But, as a Californian, a schooled economist and an environmentally-sensitive commoner, I have to question the path that California has chosen to take in it’s development, and more specifically, where the wine industry in this state is going. Sure, part of this is pure sentimentality. I wish the golden state is not as paved-over, built-up, or fast-paced as it is now. But some of this is also pure common sense. My mom always said “Too much of anything is bad,” and I really have to question when will we have enough vineyards and enough grapes? I question cutting down forests to plant vineyards or growing vineyards in places that are more appropriate for growing food. I wonder about the impact these new plantings have on water supplies (both quality and quantity), environmental diversity (the kinds of fences required for vineyards disrupts animal migrations and movement across the land; the monoculture of a vineyard diminshes environmental diversity (plants, animals, insects)), and on wine oversupply, as well. Too much of a good thing? I definitely think so.
May 17th, 2006 at 3:30 pm
there was a time when the vineyard grew pears, apples, plums and now grapes, grapes grapes. when i took my partner, last april, to napa (it was her first time seeing napa) she called it grape valley…doesn’t france use their distillers to make essential oils or am i making that up?
May 18th, 2006 at 8:41 am
Hi Nodia,
Yes, lots of vineyards are planted in what was previously orchards. And yes, every little nook and cranny seems to be crammed with grapes these days in Napa. But, on the corner of Deer Park Road and Silverado Trail is a produce stand. There’s a guy that lives in the area that grows beautiful peaches—some of the best peaches I’ve ever had—and he sells them at that produce stand occasionally. These are not to be missed. So, there are folks doing other things, it is just a matter of finding them!
I think essentil oils are steam distilled, but I really don’t know the details on that….