Arizona's wine industry is booming — but can it weather the climate crisis?
Arizona’s wine industry is booming — but can it weather the climate crisis?
Pillsbury Wine Company and Vineyard in Willcox is up for sale
After more than 25 years, Sam Pillsbury, an original southern Arizona winemaker, is selling his Willcox vineyard, Pillsbury Wine Company and Vineyard.
Arizona’s wine regions are some of the most up-and-coming in the country.
In May, Wine Enthusiast named Sonoita, Arizona, as one of the five regions vying to become the next Napa Valley. Its cooler temperatures and other activities like hiking and horseback riding — along with its excellent wineries, of course — is what landed it on the list.
Sonoita is one of three American Viticultural Areas in the state, and due to their higher elevation, they make excellent locations in the desert to grow wine. Unlike the greater Phoenix metro area, these parts of Arizona don’t see triple-digit temperatures nearly every day in the summer and they also get a lot of rain.
But that is quickly changing and creating what one expert called “global weirdness.”
Arizona is home to more than 150 wineries now and small towns are dependent on them for tourism and economic boosts. So how are vintners adjusting to climate change in the desert and how is it impacting the wine industry overall?
This week on Valley 101, a podcast by The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com about metro Phoenix and beyond, we take a look at how changing weather patterns are affecting wine growing and how Arizona can even grow it in the first place.
Two local winemakers from Page Springs Cellars and Bodega Pierce join Valley 101 to talk about how they’re adapting to climate change and what their biggest concerns are for the future. Then, the author of “Crushed: How Climate Change is Altering the Way We Drink” sheds light on how climate change is forcing the global industry to transform.
Listen to the episode
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