The Iggy Pop of New World Wines, together with some very serious players like Prof. Andy Walker of UC Davis and Dr. Josè Vouillamoz of Wine Grapes fame, is on the road to create some 10,000 new ‘weapons grade’ grape varieties from plants that they’ll be cultivating over the next 10-12 years.

And with the heart-beating hope that Mother Nature will play her much needed supportive role, if anyone can do it, then surely it will be this band of grape soul searchers.

The new ‘gonna-be’ Popelouchum ‘Grahm Cru’ is located in San Juan Bautista, east-southeast of Santa Cruz, close to California’s pacific coast. The initial word about this new 50 hectare ‘outdoor laboratory’ is that they are seeking to create seriously juicy grapes with inbuilt disease and drought resistance. The latter is something which is of increasing significance to the grape-growing and wine-making community of California. With severe drought conditions continuing to prevail in The Grape State, Randall views his latest project as a proactive response to local climate change.