California Wine Threatened by Drought Crisis

(Wine-Searcher) - California might be having its worst drought in more than a century. But it's too early to tell what the effects could be on the state's wine industry.

What we do know is, conditions are already dire in some wine growing regions. Parts of Mendocino County are running out of drinking water, while Paso Robles has passed an ordinance banning planting of new crops that need irrigation.

"Our region is the driest it's been in 120 years," said Brad Sherwood, public affairs manager for the Sonoma County Water Agency. "We've experienced two fairly dry years, and then last year was the driest on record."

The lack of rainfall is statewide, and California governor Jerry Brown, who met with a drought task force on Thursday, is expected to soon issue a drought emergency declaration.

This by itself is not unusual. The state has had 13 drought emergency proclamations since 1987, three of them statewide, according to Nancy Vogel from the California Department of Water Resources.

But farmers say this year's drought is the worst in living memory.

"I've been growing grapes for 20 years, and we haven't seen anything like this," said Lake County vineyard owner and manager David Weiss. "If we don't get significant rainfall between now and bud break, the vines are going to suffer."

That's a very big "if." One of the reasons California is such a successful wine region is the timing of its annual rainfall. Most rain falls between November and March, with the heaviest rains in January and February, while the vines are dormant.