I just got back from a month-long rock climbing trip near Barcelona, Spain—and though I’d never been there before, the vegetation looked a bit familiar. Hiking around, my skin was constantly scratched by the stiff, sharp leaves of shrubby plants—similar to California’s chaparral. Lizards I almost recognized darted across dry patches of dirt. The weather was similar to California’s, too—being summer, it was hot and dry. This was no coincidence. Spain, in the Mediterranean Basin, is California’s climate cousin.

On every continent except Antarctica, the west coasts share a similar climate, called the Mediterranean climate. It is characterized by warm to hot summers with basically no rainfall, and winters that are short, mild, and wet. A world map of Mediterranean climate regions shows that in addition to the Mediterranean Basin and the coast of California, the west coast of South America from Peru to Chile, the northwest part of Africa, parts of western and southern Australia, and parts of South Africa all share the Mediterranean climate. The sweet spot is at about 35 degrees latitude, both north and south.

Climate is a product of ocean currents and the up-and-down movement of air above Earth’s surface. In the northern hemisphere ocean currents swirl clockwise, and in the southern hemisphere ocean currents swirl counter-clockwise, thanks to Earth’s rotation and the resultant Coriolis Effect. The direction of the currents means that water flowing along the west coast of all continents is cold, having recently come from the poles. Air follows the ocean currents, binging storms and precipitation in winter. In summer, the effect of the up-and-down movement of air in the atmosphere kicks in and influences climate. In summer, dry air sinks along the latitude band of about 30 degrees to 35 degrees. The dry sinking air prevents storms from moving in, and is largely responsible for Mediterranean regions’ summer droughts. Sinking and rising of air on Earth’s surface is due to the Sun’s uneven heating of Earth.

Those scratchy shrubs that plagued me throughout my vacation are the signature flora of Mediterranean climates. Drought-tolerant evergreen shrubs exist in every Mediterranean region. In fact, the word to describe California’s scrappy shrubs, chaparral, has Spanish origins—chaparro (initially txapar in Basque) means dwarf evergreen oak. We now use the word chaparral to refer to the whole habitat type, not just the shrubs themselves. Elsewhere, this habitat type goes by other names. In the Mediterranean region, it is called maquis; in South Africa, it is the fynbos; and in Australia, it’s called kwongan.

These shrubs are not phased by the fact that Mediterranean summers are bone dry. They have evolved plenty of adaptations to drought: small, light-colored leaves that reflect sunlight, rather than absorb it; leaves that often point towards the sky, to minimize the amount of sunlight (and heat) they absorb; and the ability to hang on to those leaves from year to year, rather than waste energy making a new set each spring. But by autumn, the crispy vegetation is pretty flammable. Spain appears to be prepared; it seemed like half the rock climbers I met were bomberos, or firefighters. However, climbers are probably drawn to this career not because they could potentially save their favorite climbing areas from fiery infernos, but because the hours (24 hours of work, 72 hours of weekend, repeat) facilitate frequent climbing trips.

The similarity of climates at about 35 degrees latitude is not lost to the wine industry. A map of wine producing regions of the world matches up almost exactly with a map of the Mediterranean climate regions. Growers can take advantage of the perfect conditions for growing grapes. And vacationers can take advantage of these conditions, too—I returned from my vacation relaxed, suntanned, and having tasted quite a few good wines.

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I often look at the chemical ingredients in what I buy. I shop at farmers markets for organic produce and use green cleaning supplies. So, it caught me off guard when a friend remarked, "you are so aware of what you eat, why aren't you just as curious about what you drink?" Well, we drink organic coffee but not organic wine. I was worried about sacrificing taste and I just didn't think most vineyards were heavily sprayed with pesticides. Then I learned that wine grapes are the second most sprayed crop in the state. This didn't seem like it could be that good for the farm workers, the Earth, or the consumer. Several studies have found trace amounts of pesticides in wine. They may be at extremely low amounts, but what kind of impact could pesticide residues have overtime?

Armed with a new green cause, I set out to find more information about eco-wines. I learned that organic wine is just one type of green wine — there is also wine made with organic grapes. It turns out I had been drinking some of these wines and enjoying them. The thing is, you can't call it "organic wine" if the wine has added sulfites, a naturally occurring compound. Most winemakers add sulfites to help preserve the wine and make it more stable. If a wine is made from organic grapes but contains sulfites, the world "organic" can only be mentioned as part of the ingredient claim on the back of the bottle. No wonder I didn't know I was drinking wine farmed organically.

It turns out northern Sonoma County and Mendocino county are hotbeds for green wine. In the course of reporting this story, I visited several of these wine makers. Bonterra Vineyards, below Ukiah, has been farming organically since 1987 and now farms one of their ranches, McNab, biodynamically. Their red blend is nicely balanced and tastes very good.

Biodynamic is a novel form of organic farming practice with its roots in France. A biodynamic vineyard is a self-sustaining ecosystem — making organic compost, removing chemicals from the soil and farming with the cycles of the Earth.  Biodynamic has its own international certification. (Here is a list of their certified wines). Just up the 101 from Bonterra is Parducci Wine Cellars. This family run company is farming organic grapes and in some cases, biodynamically. Parducci also claims to be one of the most sustainable wineries in the country.

Sustainable is a squishy term. Sustainable wineries may be running off solar power or doing creek restoration to save spawning salmon but they are not necessarily organic and they are not certified. However, the California Sustainable Winegrowing Program is working toward an industry certification. The idea is to raise the entire industry's practices and help vintners make more eco-friendly choices that often include using less chemicals in the vineyards.

Back to sulfites. This ended up being the main reason for the stigma still associated with green wine. Twenty years ago, green wines were uneven and there were not that many choices. Now, several of these eco-wines are winning high points from the industry. Organic wine can only contain naturally occurring sulfites, under 10ppm. Wines farmed organically must keep the added sulfites below 100ppm. Conventional wine can contain sulfites as high as 300ppm. When I was reporting this story, several folks asked me if I was going to explain why they get headaches from red wine. Isn't it the sulfites? Actually, it is not known why some people get headaches from drinking red wine. It could be the histamines. It doesn't look like it's the sulfites. Less than 1% of the population, according to the FDA, is sensitive to sulfites. The reaction is a respiratory one.

Anyway, if you enjoy wine, I encourage you to think beyond red and white but to consider green, too. To find out more, listen to our radio story and check out our links. Also, green wine pioneer, Paul Dolan together with Parducci has created a green wine handbook which is very helpful.

Listen to the The Politics of Green Wine radio report online.

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In our radio story, we feature the stylishly high tech Vineyard 29 and the Robert Mondavi Winery, but scores of other wineries are using a similar toolbox of technology to help them monitor the soil's water content to grow better grapes. The technology ends up conserving water, too. Remote sensing, ground penetrating radar and satellite technology have helped Mondavi cut back on water use by 30% in recent years.

Winemakers are using some of the same technology that NASA uses to study Mars and engineers use to build hi-rises and freeways. A typical toolbox includes multi-spectral imaging, weather stations, neutron moisture probes, and pressure bombs and there is a plethora of newer technologies in the pipeline. But enough with all the high tech gizmos. How does wine from high tech vines taste? The answer might be found in the success of the winery. Mondavi has won numerous awards over the years and there is a two-year waiting list just to purchase Vineyard 29 wines.

Check out our slide show to see some of these technologies or listen to our radio report on high tech in the vineyards.

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