With the wine grape harvest in California well underway, Mother Nature's forbearance is the biggest outstanding issue. But if the state can avoid rain, punishing heat or wildfires, the marketplace poses its own question: How many grapes will be left on the vine?
Let's put it this way: This is a great year to be a home winemaker, because if you are willing to pick the grapes yourself, the available options might be the best ever. Even well-regarded vineyards might have grapes to sell in small quantities.
"There will be grapes left behind, without a doubt," said Jeff Bitter, president of Allied Grape Growers. "Particularly two classes of grapes. Hand-harvested grapes in the interior; for example, head-trained Zinfandel in Lodi. The market for Zin is so weak that the return isn't enough to pay for the picking and hauling. A lot of head-trained Zin won't get harvested. Another category is coastal reds in general. Unless we really have a light crop you're going to have coastal reds hanging on the vine. We're seeing some grapes move now at well below the cost of production."
Does quality have anything to do with it? California's summer has been warmer than usual, with extended heat in July but no single brutal heat spike.
"At our site it got to 104, 105," said Nolan Jones, winemaker for Lava Cap in high-elevation El Dorado County. "Along with September 2022 it was the hottest I've seen it up here. We're at 2700 feet. We rarely go over 100. Anything over 95 is pretty hot. But it all happened before veraison."
You know what variety does really well in those conditions? Zinfandel.
"Harvest began last week, and nine tons of Zinfandel were picked this morning," said Jim Rickards, owner of J. Rickards Winery in Sonoma County. "Zinbambow! This is a stunning vintage. This one is going to be in the record books."
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