California's history with wine dates back to the Spanish Mission era, and fermenting grapes is ingrained in this state's culture and its economy. Winemaking is also a huge success story in California. The number of wineries in Napa and Sonoma has grown tenfold in recent decades, and wineries are popping up everywhere from Monterey and Mendocino to Temecula. But Zócalo Public Square columnist Joe Mathews says that success has come at a cost. Wineries have drawn more people and more development to places that lie between suburbia and our wilderness areas. And Mathews says that that's raising the odds of catastrophic outcomes when fires break out.
KCRW
