Agriculture: Trouble At the Roots

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The expense of replacing rootstalks may drive some vineyards into bankruptcy. And with land costing as much as $50,000 an acre, the survivors will have to practice a form of economic triage in deciding what grapes to grow. Robert Parker Jr., America's leading wine critic, recently praised a dry Sonoma white made from a relatively cheap and underrated varietal called Chenin Blanc. But Michael Martini, winemaker at the family-owned Louis M. Martini vineyard, predicts that Chenin Blanc will disappear from prime acreage in Napa and Sonoma counties, along with such other marginal varietals as Gewurztraminer, Johannisberg Riesling and Gamay Beaujolais. "The price of land is too high to grow those crops," he says. "You can't get your money back." Martini, which once produced 26 different wines, will soon have only 10.

While the less profitable varietals may survive elsewhere in California, Napa and Sonoma growers will concentrate on the big-money crops: primarily Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay, but also Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc, Zinfandel and Merlot. Replanting also means that growers can take advantage of new theories about draining and trellising to plant more vines per acre without diluting the grapes' character or intensity. "We're in the crucible right now," says James Allen, president of Napa's Sequoia Grove Vineyards, "but when we come out of it, we'll be light-years ahead of the French."

Some vintners foresee 1995 and 1996 as the worst years of the crisis, when a drop in production will lead to a rise in retail prices, particularly for premier whites. After that, more prolific vines and keener competition could result in lower prices for better wines. If that proves true, oenophiles may someday want to toast the little pests that ate the vineyards.