What We're Reading --

California's $45 Billion Wine Industry Faces Climate Peril

Vineyards producing California’s premier red and white wines are being hit with everything from excessive heat to drought to deep freezes as climate change bears down. (Bloomberg)

This Napa wine’s secret ingredient? Straw

Winemakers typically rush grapes straight to the winery for processing, but Seth Cripe recently brought two tons of Muscat grapes to his Calistoga home instead. There, a small team of employees and friends carefully placed the large, plump, yellow-green clusters on top of a layer of straw on the ground.  Afterward, the grapes lay there for two weeks, caramelizing under the sun and turning golden-amber in color, before finally being pressed at the winery. (San Francisco Chronicle)