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1 1 4 V I N E YA R D & W I N E RY M A N A G E M E N T | M a y - J u n e 2 014 w w w. v w m m e d i a . c o m END POST TYLER COLMAN c e n t u r y a g o , t h e " w e t s " a n d t h e "drys" were locked in battle. The drys p r e v a i l e d , p l u n g - ing the country into a national prohibition that lasted nearly 14 years. Today, dry has a different mean- ing, yet one that is increasingly political. With little rainfall becom- ing a dispiriting norm in California winters, culminating in the record 2013-14 drought, consumers and regulatory authorities have been thinking more about the water footprint of various activities, from maintaining verdant lawns to grow- ing almonds. Winemaking is far from the most water-intensive of California's agricultural industries, but some estimates still suggest more than 40 gallons of water are needed to make one 750 mL bottle of wine. At that ratio, even the guests at the Marriage at Cana, where Jesus was said to turn water into wine, might have gone thirsty! There are plenty of steps vint- ners can take to reduce overall water usage. The first, and most significant, is in the vineyard. New plantings need water, but it's fair to say that the norm across the state (with some regional variation) is to irrigate for the life of the vine. Watering regimens differ, but if a vineyard has tight spacing of 2,000 vines per acre, and those vines received a gallon of water a week during the growing season, and yielded 3 tons of grapes an acre, that would be about 10 gallons of water per bottle of wine. Clearly, many vintners use more than that. Dry farming has risen in popular- ity, particularly with younger grow- ers using old vines. Advocates of dry farming can point to the signifi- cant reduction in water usage, yet some advocates also say the result- ing wines have greater intensity and depth of flavor than irrigated vines. Others point to an affinity with t h e i r w i n e m a k i n g p h i l o s o p h y. N a t h a n R o b e r t s , a p a r t n e r i n Arnot-Roberts winery in Sonoma County, told me that even though not all of his vineyard sources are dry-farmed, he likes the method because it expresses the site better – and that's what he's after in winemaking. "Irriga- tion and the site tend to express the irrigation, as there's less vintage varia- tion," he said. Yet he understands that this variation means that it's not applicable to every- one, as other growers opt for consistency. Even if dry farming saves water in the vine- yard, it still takes w a t e r t o m a k e wine; those barrels and tanks don't just need a wip- ing down, after all. Winery manag- ers often have barrels rinsed with hot water to remove tartrates and then use ozonated water to con- trol microbes. However, wineries could switch to steaming barrels, which dramatically cuts down on water usage and has the added advantage of removing tartrates and microbes in one fell swoop. (It does possibly use more ener- gy, but that can be mitigated with renewable power at the winemak- ing facility, such as solar.) Steaming does take more time, so perhaps it's most appropriate for small- scale wineries. T h e n t h e r e a r e t h e " J e s u s units," water added to the must. This is controversial. It appears to be watering down wine, selling water at wine prices; it encourages late harvests of fruit with higher Brix; and minimal-interventionists feel it's too much tampering. As such, it's no surprise that the prac- tice is expressly forbidden in many wine-producing countries. But the letter of the California law is ambiguous, as it permits a "mini- mum" amount of water to be added to "facilitate normal fermentation" (preventing a stuck fermenta- tion). However, from a water-use standpoint, even detractors would have to admit the prac- tice is more efficient than irrigating the vineyards and pumping berries full of water before putting them on the scale. In all, it takes a lot of water to make wine – not as much as other parts of agriculture, and households are generally pretty wasteful, too. But as a new era of water politics emerg- es in the Golden State, there will be increased focus on water usage. While some vineyards may have access to aquifers or ag water, it's prudent to do a water audit and start thinking about conservation. The "drys" may have another day in politics, but this time, with some successful water management, the effects won't be as debilitating. Tyler Colman, author of the wine blog Dr. Vino, teaches wine classes at New York University and the Uni- versity of Chicago, and wrote the book "Wine Politics: How Govern- ments, Environmentalists, Mob- sters, and Critics Influence the Wines We Drink." Comments? Please e-mail us at feedback@vwmmedia.com. (Opinions expressed in this column do not necessarily reflect those of Vineyard & Winery Management.) Water Worries