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(One woman speaking to another at a party) This may just be the wine talking, but I'm a robust '06 Shiraz with blackcurrant notes, a complex structure and intriguing depth.

In vino veritas

In vino veritas published on

I know very, very little about wine. So little that my primary cue for wine quality is whether there’s a duckling on the label.

So instead of trying to offer my insights on wine-tasting and varietals, I’ll instead point out that climate change ruins everything — including, apparently, winemaking.

It may only be a matter of decades before California finds its Napa and Sonoma regions get too hot to grow good grapes… and the grapes that have helped to define the French Rhone Valley and Bordeaux stop finding those locales so hospitable.

There are winners, mind you. My kids may grow up enjoying the fine sparkling wines of Sussex, England, for instance (there’s been some hints that olives might do well there, too, so maybe martinis are in order instead of wine).

But the disruption this will entail, not to mention the damage done as today’s winemakers have to rely increasingly on irrigation as their regional climates heat up, ought to be ringing alarm bells.

And with that, I’ll put a cork in it.