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Article Excerpt
Every year, Wines & Vines seeks to present a complete, accurate and up-to-date review of the previous vintage in major growing regions throughout the United States and Canada. We contact farm advisors and other industry professionals for their first-hand reports about the growing season in their regions. Although not all were able to respond in time for our deadline, many did, and we are grateful for their input. Late-arriving reports will be published in future issues. We hope you'll find them all informative and useful.
California
CLARKSBURG
by Elizabeth G. Merwin
Clarksburg Wine Growers Association
It was a relatively unexceptional year for winegrape growing in the Clarksburg appellation. The impact of the economy and the oversupply of winegrapes were definitely felt in the region, but it was experienced as more of a hunkering down rather than extreme hardship.
Overall crop quality was good, although Brix and phenolic development occurred later than in prior years. Harvest was smaller than that of 2002 by perhaps 10-15%, yet prices were stronger than in previous years. There is hopeful anticipation that prices will continue to trend upwards.
As was expected, growers with uncontracted grapes most felt the effects of the grape supply. Depressed prices were offered for their fruit, yet even so, the majority of grapes were harvested. The grape supply has also had the effect of curtailing new plantings. However, there were some changes to existing vineyards, as certain older blocks of Chardonnay were removed and about 250 acres of Chardonnay were grafted to Pinot gris.
The opening of a winery by Gustafson Vineyards LLC in 2003, and the development of labels by several growers over the past few years, have increased the wine-producing dimension of the appellation. This is having a positive impact on the region, as it has increased awareness of the Clarksburg appellation by both consumers and wineries.
Although no significant disease or pest issues plague the area, growers continue to monitor for Pierce's disease and vine mealybug. They also continue to increase their knowledge of sustainable agricultural practices and utilize them in their vineyards.
Overall, the long-range outlook is positive for the Clarksburg appellation. The growers' ability to produce high quality winegrapes for reasonable prices corresponds well with current price trends in the industry.
LAKE COUNTY
by Erica Lundquist
Viticulturist
Lake County Winegrape Commission
2003 brought many positive indicators for the long-term success of the wine industry in Lake County, in spite of the tough current market conditions. The largest recent vineyard plantings in the county are in the volcanic, mountain soils of the Red Hills and High Valley areas. These areas are receiving increasing recognition for exceptional Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, Syrah and Petite Sirah. Applications have been submitted for both areas to establish them as AVAs. Several new wineries introduced their first vintages to the marketplace in 2003, with a total of 20 in the planning and permitting stages.
Lake County growers demonstrated their commitment to sustainable winegrowing with more than 70% of vineyard owners participating in workshops using the Code of Sustainable Winegrowing Self-Assessment Workbook. This may be the highest participation rate for any California region in this new CAWG-Wine Institute program.
Some Lake County growers experienced the impacts of reduced winegrape demand. These impacts ranged from nonrenewal of expired contracts to wineries negotiating reduced fruit deliveries. Similar to 2002, 5-10% of Lake County winegrapes were not sold. Despite these negative impacts on sales, the total Lake County winegrape production is likely to remain stable or increase, due to recent vineyard plantings. Similarly, average prices should remain steady due to most growers having negotiated long term contracts on newer vineyards. New vineyard development has slowed markedly, but the price of land has changed very little.
2003 will be remembered for a very wet spring. The cold and rainy April arrested growth at bud break for most varieties, and the warm weather that followed promoted rapid growth, possibly accounting for a light fruit set in red varieties. Vine canopy size tended to be larger than usual as the heavy April rains provided abundant moisture for early season growth.
Temperatures during the fruit ripening stage were moderate, with Lake County escaping the intense heat spikes experienced in Sonoma and Napa counties in mid-September. Winemakers reported excellent quality for 2003 Sauvignon blanc. Cabernet Sauvignon tended to have loose clusters and small berries, which promoted good color and flavor development.
Lake County is still fortunate to have no reports of Pierce's disease, glassy-winged sharpshooter, or vine mealybug, although the agricultural commissioner continues to monitor for the latter two pests.
LAKE AND MENDOCINO COUNTIES
by Glenn T. McGourty
Viticulture and Plant Science Advisor
UCCE Mendocino and Lake Counties
The 2003 vintage will be remembered as a difficult year from the perspective of growing and selling winegrapes in Mendocino and Lake counties. The year began with above average rainfall, extending fairly late into the season. It was a relatively mild winter and spring, with few frost events. Because of the cloudy and wet weather, everything was late to bloom, even though initially bud break appeared to be at a normal time. Bloom occurred in many vineyards almost two weeks behind schedule, and was not very uniform. Fruit set was light in many vineyards, especially for Chardonnay and Merlot, as well as Pinot noir. This was probably a blessing for the industry, as several large wineries made some last minute buying decisions when they realized that they were not receiving average sized crops.
Botrytis bunch rot and powdery mildew were problematic in many vineyards. The late rains started low level infections. In mid-July, when normally the high risk period for powdery mildew is over, the weather became overcast, humid and very conducive for mildew. When combined with the big canopies, infections became rampant. Many growers were caught off guard, and ended up having to wash down fruit to remove mildew.
Harvest occurred in fits and starts. Sparkling wine harvest began the last week of August. Several cool cloudy days and freak thunderstorms slowed ripening in early September. Overall, however, September was quite warm, and even though the harvest started about two weeks behind schedule, there were large amounts of fruit ripe by the third week. In many vineyards, crops were smaller than usual. Merlot, Chardonnay and Zinfandel ripening periods overlapped this year in many vineyards; usually, there is more time between their picking dates. By late September, there was a lull in harvest activity, and then it picked up again as Pinot noir, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah came into the wineries. For these cultivars, ripening periods were closer to normal. October weather was much more conducive to favorable ripening, being cooler than September, yet with warm days and cool nights. The rain held off until the very end of the month, allowing for a dry conclusion to the harvest for most growers. There were a few vineyards that finished in November in some of the cooler locations growing late varietals. Most wineries called it a vintage by Nov. 7, as frost and rain began to destroy anything left at that time.
Initial thoughts on the harvest by winemakers are that the later ripening fruit is turning into very good wine. For wines made from earlier ripening fruit, the results are mixed, with some reds rapidly gaining sugar content without reaching "flavor maturity." By contrast, several winemakers report that 2003 is a "white wine year." They note that there is a good balance of acidity, a brightness of fruit and a freshness that are making the Chardonnay and Sauvignon blanc especially good.
In Anderson Valley, the sparkling wine crop was a good one, being impressive in size, flavor and favorable wine chemistry. Both Pinot noir and Chardonnay crops were considered the best in the last three years. The wines initially are impressive, with good flavors and balance.
Wineries were reluctant to commit to growers for their fruit until late in the season. If you had a solid contract, there were less problems for the grower. If your contract was up, bigger wineries typically did not renew them, or did so under much less favorable prices and terms. Regardless, even with existing contracts, many wineries were pressuring growers to renegotiate prices, and specified exactly how much fruit they would take from the grower. There was still a considerable amount of fruit left hanging in vineyards around both Lake and Mendocino counties. Old, head pruned Carignane vineyards are continuing to be pulled out by growers with no market outlets for that fruit.
Wineries are still struggling with big inventories and sluggish sales. Winemakers and salespeople are spending more time on the road, and are improving their financial situation in most cases, especially compared to 2002. Many wineries reduced the size of their purchases this past season, and many growers thinned fruit to bring their crops into more favorable loads for their customers. Most wineries are straight-ening out oversized case goods inventories.
Vineyard development is mostly centered around replanting existing vineyards with phylloxera problems, or varietals that can't be sold such as Carignane, Gamay Beaujolais or other varietals that have fallen from favor in the marketplace. The interest in Mediterranean varietals has definitely paused, as wineries are finding wines like Sangiovese and Syrah somewhat difficult to market. These new varietals are improving as wineries learn how to make the wines and the vines become more mature. Sales-people are reluctant to deal with new varietals in a difficult marketplace, however.
Mendocino and Lake counties are fortunate that they have been spared infestations of troubling new pests, such as glassy-winged sharpshooters and vine mealybug. Thanks to the efforts of the Mendocino and Lake County agriculture commissioners and their staffs, inspections of nursery shipments and trapping efforts revealed no new pests at this time.
Organic winegrowing continues to be a topic of great interest in both Mendocino and Lake counties. Three educational events featuring organic winegrowing drew more than 220 growers total during this past year. Fetzer Vineyards continues its quest to have all growers selling fruit to them to be certified organic by 2010, and Fetzer now has an in-house organic advisor, Dr. Ann Thrupp. With Mendocino County environmental activists planning a ballot initiative proposing a total ban on agricultural genetically modified organisms (GMOs), a spirited debate in the community is guaranteed. Mendocino County will continue to lead the world in environmentally friendly winegrowing practices, with nearly 25% of the vineyard acreage being farmed as certified organic. Lake County has the largest percentage of growers to complete the CAWG/Wine Institute's Code of Sustainability Self Assessment. Additionally, growers in both counties participated in a new Vineyard Water Quality Planning short course that focused on addressing issues raised by the Clean Water Act regulations affecting nonpoint source water pollution.
Both Mendocino and Lake County are really feeling the market pinch during this oversupply period. The Mendocino Winegrowers Alliance and the Lake County Wine Grape Commission are working hard to market their regions, and to improve public awareness about the high quality fruit being grown in these two North Coast counties.
LIVERMORE VALLEY
by Sblend A. Sblendorio
President
Livermore Valley Winegrowers Association
The Livermore Valley's 2003 crop was smaller than in 2002 for most varietals. However, most varietals, especially Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Zinfandel, Chardonnay, Petite Sirah, and Syrah, resulted in great quality. Our grape prices, other than for Cabernet at the beginning of the harvest, were consistent with previous years. Some varietals, such as Zinfandel, Petite Sirah and Cabernet franc, remain in short supply in the Livermore Valley and are sought by...
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