Wine & Climate Change: A Conversation and Wine Tasting

Climate change is having a profound effect on the ancient craft of winemaking, altering where grapes can be grown, when they are harvested, and even how wine tastes in the glass. As a result, the geography of wine production is changing—so much so that Vermont’s Champlain Valley is poised to become a federally recognized wine region.

In this event, two winemakers from that region, Deirdre Heekin and Caleb Barber of Domaine La Garagista Farm & Winery in Barnard, Vermont, will discuss how they are managing the impacts of climate change on their livelihood. They will be joined in conversation by geologist David G. Howell, author of The Winemaker’s Dance: Exploring Terroir in Napa Valley. Their talk will be followed by a tasting of La Garagista wines.

Deirdre Heekin and Caleb Barber met as students at Middlebury College. After a stint living and working in Italy, they returned to Vermont and opened the restaurant Osteria Pane e Salute in Woodstock, which they ran for over 20 years before closing in 2017 to focus on La Garagista, their winemaking operation in Barnard. Heekin is the author of three books and is at work on a fourth, The Vineyard of Lost Time, to be published by Timber Press in 2027. Barber, originally from Brattleboro, develops and writes recipes for the Boston Globe.

A retired research geologist and Stanford University professor, David G. Howell taught one of Stanford’s most popular courses, “Geology and Wines of California.” Based in Walpole, N.H., Howell serves as an advisor to several Napa and Sonoma Valley wineries. He is a member of Walpole Artisans Cooperative and a former trustee of the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center.