Whether atmospheric or human-caused, Oregon has become adept at mixing the perfect cocktail for a growing wildfire problem. So what’s in store for wine grapes, one of the state’s ten most lucrative crops?
I lean towards pessimism (although I like to call it realism), so after choking on smoke for a couple of summers and seeing grim climate report after grim climate report, my inclination was to say WE’RE ALL DOOMED. Two industry experts, however, have a surprisingly positive outlook when it comes to the future of Oregon wine.
Greg Jones examines the intersection of viticulture and climatology, and is one of the country’s leading minds in the field. Jones was formerly the director of the Evenstad Center for Wine Education at Linfield University, and was instrumental in its launch. He was appointed CEO of his family’s winery Abacela in August 2021.
Jones points out that folks in other parts of the world have dealt with wildfires causing impact on wine grapes and other agricultural crops, so there are examples we can learn from. “The Aussies have done a lot of the baseline research to try to better understand, if you have smoke from a fire, what are all the characteristics that potentially challenge growing grapes and making wine,” says Jones in a phone interview with the Mercury.
