Sour Grapes

I just spilled my Merlot.

Areas suitable for growing premium wine grapes could be reduced by 50 percent -- and possibly as much as 81 percent -- by the end of this century, according to a study Monday in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Maybe the US needs more than Al Gore's excellent An Inconvenient Truth to put down their latest vintage and confront global warming. This study might be it:

Grapes used in premium wines need a consistent climate. When temperatures top about 95 degrees they have problems maintaining photosynthesis and the sugars in the grapes can break down, said [Noah Diffenbaugh of the department of earth and atmospheric sciences at Purdue University] in a telephone interview.

All from AP.
Photo from Ryan Greenberg