California Earthquakes Make Napa's Wine Taste Better

Have you ever wondered why California's wines, specifically bottles from the Napa region, are widely regarded as some of the best in the world?

It actually has a lot to do with the soil, which is made up of a rich mix of minerals like limestone and sedimentary rock, which is a result of the area's unstable plates shifting under the Earth's surface. Volcanic rock millions of years old has been found under the surface of the Napa Valley region, according to Smithsonian Magazine, and over the course of centuries fault activity and erosion has added to the diversity of the soil. This richness makes for better wine growing and more grape varieties grown throughout the region. In other words, California's frequent earthquakes have led to better wine.

But it's not all good news. Earthquakes also have the ability to destroy in addition to enriching soil. The latest 6.0 magnitude earthquake that rocked Northern California this weekend has destroyed much of Napa Valley's wine grape crops, with one winery, B. R. Cohn Winery in Glen Ellen, California, claiming that upwards of 50 percent of their crop was destroyed.

The nonprofit Napa Valley Vintners claims, "the earthquake did not impact vineyards or the grapes on the vine and majority of Napa Valley's wineries are open for business."

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Joanna Fantozzi is an Associate Editor with The Daily Meal. Follow her on Twitter@JoannaFantozzi