Promising new areas for premium quality wine grapes to replace acreage lost to urbanization

Many excellent vineyards near cities and towns in the central coast district of California have been displaced by new highways, new subdivisions and other urban facilities. Possible new locations for the production of wine grape varieties of high quality were surveyed and evaluated for suitable climatological and soil conditions. For evaluation of areas remote from present grape-producing districts, samples of fruit were collected and analyzed. Loss of grape acreage has been heaviest in Napa, Sonoma, and Santa Clara counties. Those three counties, and Mendocino County, once supported grape plantings of two to three times the present acreages. Some of the early plantings were op slopes too steep for present implements but considerable land in each of those four counties is available. Because of erosion, some of this available land probably is not as productive as it once was, but high tonnage is not such an important requisite with premium-quality varieties. Old vineyards and plantings of other fruit crops on excellent grape land are always being removed-for one reason or another-which makes land available for quality wine grape varieties in proved areas. Vineyards of common grape varieties, in good locations successfully grafted over to quality wine varieties should be producing practically full crops in two years.