Rain forecast makes some growers uneasy

As grape growers rush to complete the harvest, wet weather and lower temperatures are forecast for the weekend.

Up to half an inch of rain is expected in Santa Rosa between Friday evening and Saturday morning, said Steve Anderson, a National Weather Service meteorologist.

“It’s a fairly significant early season cold front,” he said.

The front is a result of a storm center from the Gulf of Alsaka and some moisture from an old typhoon in the west Pacific, Anderson said.

Perhaps 75 percent of the harvest should be in by Friday or Saturday night, said Nick Frey, executive director of the Sonoma County Winegrape Commission.

The forecast may make chardonnay growers “a little nervous,” he said. But red grapes hold up well and overall, grape clusters are “pretty loose, so that bodes well if we get rain.”

Looser clusters mean that water is trapped less, alloing the grapes to dry faster.

Across the board, it appears this year will bring a smaller harvest than last year, perhaps by 10 percent or more, Frey said.

“Everything added up, and yields are down,” he said, citing factors including an early frost and conditions during flowering, when vines came in with fewer and smaller berries.

The average Sonoma County wine grape crop is 200,000 tons. The crop is the county’sd dominant agricultural product, registering a gross value of almost $417 million, or about two-thirds the county total agricultural value in 2007.