In 2022, Northern California experienced record-breaking extreme heat, with temperatures exceeding 115° in some areas, threatening and destroying significant areas of wine grapes. With climate change, high heat and drought will occur with increasing frequency and intensity. This salon will explore ways to plan for and reduce these climate impacts, from rootstock, compost & biochar, row orientation, and trellising at replant, to shade cloth and canopy management, to irrigation and misting.

Matt Brain, Winemaker at Alpha Omega, will moderate a conversation with Tod Mostero, Director of Viticulture & Winemaking at Dominus Estate, sharing recent approaches to replanting for dry farming, and their use of misting; Steve McIntyre, Founder & Owner of Monterey Pacific, will share their work on regenerative farming, including the benefits they’ve seen over seven years since applying compost & biochar; and Beth Forrestel PhD, Asst. Professor of Viticulture & Enology at UC Davis, will share her research and perspective on vineyard management in the face of extreme heat events.

This Salon will discuss tough questions: Are there temperature tipping points where misting is our only tool, and what are the water use ramifications? How do we use a conservation lens to achieve varying winemaker goals? How do we shift away from creating weak vines that require excess irrigation, to minimal water use that strengthens the relationship of vine to place?