Press
Tough Year May Yield Super Grapes in Napa
A late frost and a dry and windy spring throughout Northern California presented a list of challenges to grape growers, challenges that are resulting in smaller yields and higher costs of operation. But the story could have a happy ending. According to the panel of the Napa Valley Grape Growers Harvest Press Conference, held August 11 at Larkmead Winery in Napa , quantity may be lower, but the quality of this year's wine could be outstanding.
The unusual weather meant an early harvest for certain grapes. Mitch Cosentino, founder and winemaker for Cosentino Winery, says he picked four and-a-half tons of sauvignon blanc from one of the winery's Pope Valley vineyards. "This is the earliest we've ever picked," says Cosentino. When asked if he'd harvest any other grapes early, he said he didn't think so, "but," he added, "if the weather maintains itself in a moderate sense, we should have very high quality this year." Cosentino adds that the cabernet varieties look to be exceptional this year.
"This was a very problematic weather viticultural year," says Cam Baker, proprietor of Larkmead Vineyards. "At first we had a lot of rain early, but not late, so there wasn't a lot of water in the ground for the grapes to be a normal size. Then we had high winds and heat, making the clusters smaller."
"The fire actually helped us in parts of the Napa Valley ," said Jon Ruel , VP of operations for Trefethen Family Vineyards. "The smoke from the fires created a shade-effect, like a sun screen, which helped to reduce the heat. Normally, when you have temperatures over 100 degrees, you'd expect a little burn on the chardonnay. Those grapes look pristine this year."
Growers in Napa are facing increased operation costs this year, a result of the volatile weather and fires that forced workers to spend more time in the vineyards, and orchard heaters, used to protect the vines during the spring frosts, requiring increasingly-pricey diesel fuel. Many growers say these added costs for fuel and worker over-time will cut into this year's profits. Baker says he spent more than twenty thousand dollars on diesel fuel this year. "So far it's been the most I've ever spent on fuel. I don't even want to know the final fuel cost."
Most panelists at the press conference agreed that there will be lower profits for many grape growers this year, but wine consumers won't see an increase in price. As Cam Baker put it, "It should be high quality this year, but till the horses are in the barn and the grapes are in the winery, there's no real way of knowing."