A strange year for wine grape harvest

Smaller yields but greater quality
 

 
Mario Clogh, left, and Matt Wentz process wine grapes Wednesday at Luchessi Vineyards and Winery.   Photo by John Hart

Nevada County's small but active wine industry typically sees wide swings from year to year, but 2009 is looking particularly difficult despite excellent grapes with great potential, local experts say.

At least 200 acres of wine grapes will go unharvested at Pendagio Vineyards in Penn Valley, Agricultural Commissioner Jeff Pylman said Wednesday.

“That will cut us in half for production, maybe more,” Pylman said.

County growers have produced wine grapes on land ranging from 349 to 402 acres since 2004, producing between $1.5 million and $2.1 million annually, depending on the price and yield.

The former Indian Springs Vineyards was sold two years ago, said Julie Holmes of Indian Springs Tasting Room in Nevada City. She was unsure why the vines are now hanging full of fruit and ready for harvest.

The Union wine columnist Rod Byers said he learned the bank had foreclosed on the property around July 1.

The Union was unable to reach the former vineyard manager or the purchasers for comment.

While that situation is unclear, losing those grapes also means several things for the county.

“A lot of the local wineries are turning to other growers here, so they're buying local grapes and producing local wines with them,” Pylman said. “A lot of the vineyards here export out to Napa and Sonoma counties, too,” where winemaking is king.

“We're smack in the middle of harvest,” said Linda Tibshirani of Naggiar Vineyards in western Nevada County. “The yields are 10 percent less, but it's great fruit.”

The harvest started around Labor Day, about 10 days later than normal, according to Tibshirani's partner and vineyard namesake, Mike Naggiar.

“We had late spring rains and a relatively cool summer, so everything got pushed back this year,” Naggiar said. “The yields are average and not the disaster of last year,” when a late frost killed off 40 percent of the county's crop.

According to the county's annual crop report, growers earned slightly more than $2 million from wine grape sales in 2007 on 385 acres, but only $1.5 million on 402 acres in 2008.

However, “The quality is great this year,” with potential for great wines, Naggiar said.

Like many wine producers, Naggiar picks his 60 acres of grapes at night to have fresh product to ship in the morning to other wineries hours away. His harvesters, covered with grape sugar, also avoid swarming daytime yellow jackets.

“Most of the fruit looks great because of the mild spring and summer,” said Matt Wentz, the vineyard manager for Lucchesi Vineyards and Winery. Prices are down a bit across the state because of the economy, but are stable in Nevada County this year, partially because of the Pendagio situation, he added.

Local grapes are fetching anywhere from $1,100 to $1,500 a ton for a sauvignon blanc and around $1,500 a ton for cabernet sauvignon grapes, Wentz said.

“It's really a strange year, because we had hot and cold and then hot and cold, but it produced good flavors,” said Mark Foster, winemaker at Nevada City Winery. “The grapes developed over a longer time, so they were maturing well for us.”

“It appears to be a pretty good year” for the remaining 200 acres or so in the county, Byers said.

“There wasn't any significant spring events” like last year's frost, or a hail storm in 2007 that caused some damage,” he said.

“A lot of wineries are producing less,” because they have good inventories and don't want to spend as much on producing more wine in a tight economy, Byers said. “We'll probably see a big bulk market later” for what they have left.