“It Was The Apocalypse.” Very Bad News From Rioja
The climate emergency is still here, folks. The wine industry in general (and Spain, in particular) is the canary in the coal mine.
On Tuesday, I published a happy story about Rioja, on my visit to legendary winery López de Heredia.
However, on the following day, there was some very bad news to report from Rioja. On Wednesday, the wine region was hit hard by an intense hailstorm along with strong winds and heavy rain.
Ice bombs covered streets and rooftops, as well as decimating many vineyards in the southern part of the region, particularly around the villages of Navarette and Moncalvillo. Some vineyards lost 90 to 100 percent of their grapes within 20 minutes. “It was the apocalypse,” one winemaker told me.
The storm left shocking images of the chaotic damage (below).