Few have noticed, but citrus growers in Southern California and wine grape growers in the Napa Valley have established something close to an agricultural aristocracy.

Neither of them intended for that to occur, but economic circumstances, land values and population dynamics have made it happen, like it or not.

Concerted development in Southern California in the early part of the last century was largely fueled by the establishment and growth of the citrus industry. Sending sunshine wrapped in orange rinds to markets across America not only resulted in significant profit for orange growers, but brought the sunshine-seekers to the Golden State.

Some came in search of real estate, preferably with orange trees present, and that lit the fuse of what became one of the world’s most notable and longest- lasting real estate booms. Original citrus farmers retreated to their estates on the hilltops to preside over their acreage and watch the valleys below explode with people, industry and freeways.

In the Napa Valley, wise old-world wine producers quickly recognized the soil, water and climatic conditions of the area as superior for producing high-quality grape varieties and the wine that they yielded.

Some built impressive estates, with mansions overlooking their vineyards and wineries. Tourists and residents from nearby population centers such as the San Francisco Bay Area could not resist the growers’ invitations to taste their wine. The mansions and the vineyards are still growing as weekends in the valley emulate pilgrimages to corked wine bottles.

However, consumer preferences have proven more powerful than economic and societal status. Growers in both the citrus and high-value wine industries are having to take notice. Economic erosion is threatening the ground supporting their estates.

An ailing economy in the United States has forced wine consumers to express their preferences for lower-priced wines. Those originate in the warmer Central Valley, not the Napa Valley and its Sonoma and Mendocino county neighbors. Bay Area wine tasters still navigate the crowded Napa Valley highway, but overall sales have leaned to bargain bottles in the past year or two.

Article source: http://www.visaliatimesdelta.com/article/20110404/BUSINESS/104040319/1057/entertainment05/Don-Curlee-Elite-farmers-relish-their-aristocratic-status?odyssey=nav%7Chead