Environmental fight pits California redwoods vs. red wine

(FoxNews) - A little whine with dinner?

A coalition of environmental groups in California is fighting to stop a Spanish-owned winery from chopping down 154 acres of redwood trees and Douglas firs to make room for grapevines, NPR reports.

The fight, according to the report, is a global one, with a 2013 study finding climate change would profoundly impact ecosystems, with wine grape production being “a good test case for measuring indirect impacts mediated by changes in agriculture. . .”

In the California case, the groups, which filed suit in 2012, are charging that state officials violated California’s environmental protection laws when they approved the plan to clear the area, which is in the wine mecca of Sonoma County.

According to the NPR report, Artesa Vineyards and Winery, owned by the Spanish Codomiu Group, will spare two old-growth redwoods on the property. According to a company spokesman, most of the trees at the site are less than 100 feet tall. "There are no forests [on this site]," spokesman Sam Singer told the station.

Redwoods are among the biggest trees on Earth, and can stand more than 350 feet high. Some are more than 2,000 years old.