Climate Change and Pinot Noir

4/3/09 - There are plenty of reasons to be concerned about  climate change.  But for those of us visiting pages such as this have something in common:  we share a deep appreciate of Pinot Noir and wine in general.  If nothing yet has moved you, the danger to the grape we are so passionate about should do the deed.  Finicky in so many way, Pinot is especially touchy about the fondness for cool growing conditions in a particularly narrow range for the most exceptional examples.  For those of us who appreciate the rewards of older vines, moving the vineyards further north is no real consolation, and rather a short-lived a solution anyway.

Those of us who are growing our favorite varietal at higher elevations will likely suffer later than sooner, but eventually the changes will overtake all of us.  Something one doesn't really want to think of, but must, is the loss of those sites with long reputations for making beautiful Pinot noir, here in Oregon and around the world, most notably in the region we owe most of our roots, Burgundy.

We need to take small steps and then very quickly larger ones to lessen our footprints. Even if you care for nothing more than our noble grapes, take the first steps now.  Support the efforts of our leaders.  Support each other. Point stuff out that doesn't make sense. 

Luminous Hills Winery and Seven of Hearts Wine is committed to action.  We are taking the steps to become carbon neutral, convert to bio fuels on our farm, and follow low impact practices, including the packaging in our products.  We want to hear from you on what you are doing and what we can do to take increasingly larger steps.