The Geography of Wine
NORTHERN HEMISPHERE
Microclimates has been a buzzword of the past two decades, allowing us to understand why many unlikely locations around the world turn out to be unusually well-suited to winegrape production.
As late as the past generation, it was widely believed that wine was mainly a "French" thing. Americans realized that some wine was made in Italy, perhaps in Spain, too; but France held the standard. The French claimed it was their special "terroir" that made all the difference. California winemakers ran a close second.
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Then out of thin air, or so it seemed, large numbers of very good wines began appearing from the most unlikely places: Mexico, Chile, New Zealand, South Africa, Western Australia, even Virginia and Ontario!
Microclimates and special circumstances notwithstanding, more than 90% of the world's commercial winegrape production occurs along a band between 35° to 45° latitude. This band cuts a swath around the circumference of the earth about 700 miles wide. It is within this band that the specific conditions favorable to winegrape production can occur. Let's take a look at it.
Beginning with the west coast of the U.S., the southern end of the band occurs near Los Angeles; the northern end includes the Columbia Valley in Washington State. Moving east, it runs through Nevada, northern Arizona and New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, the heart of the midwestern states, and hits the Atlantic seaboard at Virginia and New York State.
Now we must look within this band for appropriate climatic conditions. Winegrapes favor wet winters and dry summers with moderate humidity. That rules out the midwest and makes the east coast a little "iffy." Winegrapes prefer coolish, rather than hot summer temperatures, so they can ripen slowly. That rules out most of the inland western regions, except for those microclimates.
A glance at a climate chart of the U.S. shows optimal climate for winegrapes only along a narrow coastal strip from Santa Barbara up to the Canadian border, fanning out to include much of the state of Washington. The California Central Valley, like west Texas, does not provide optimal conditions, despite large winery operations.
Although there are bonded wineries in every continental U.S. state, only California, Oregon, and Washington enjoy the advantages of optimal location. Microclimates of major importance have been identified in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley, Ontario's Niagara Peninsula, and British Columbia's Okanagan Valley. But these regions are likely to be found suitable to a narrow spectrum of grape varietals, unlike the primary growing regions of the Pacific coast, which provide a comfortable home to a wide variety of winegrapes. We are not suggesting that fine wine cannot come from other U.S. locations. It's just that other regions face more of an uphill battle in their quest for excellence and will more often encounter unsuitable climatic quirks - high humidity leading to fungal growth, hot summer heat leading to premature ripening, a short growing season leading to high acidity, and an increased incidence of rain at harvest.
