Virginian wine producers have been hit by a “perfect storm” of climatic events, with a warm spring this year bringing on the early development of buds before one of the worst frosts in 20 years swept through the state late last month, devastating crops.
Speaking to the drinks business at London Wine Fair, the Virginia Wine Board revealed that the Central Virginia and Northern Virginia regions felt the full impact of the frost, with Monticello AVA one of the areas worst hit.
“Some people lost 80-90% per cent of their vines and others more like 20%,” said marketing manager Anna Anderson. “Those in higher elevation sites fared better as frost settles more the lower down you are.”
Hope for the vintage
According to Anderson, Virginia winemakers are currently waiting to see whether “secondary buds on the vine” could rescue the vintage.
“Of course the yields would be much smaller than usual but we are still waiting to see what happens with that second growth,” she told db.
Early-blooming varieties like Chardonnay suffered most as temperatures plunged to -11°C between 20-21 April.
“Many growers will tell you this is the worst frost Virginia has had, but there is still hope for the vintage. It isn’t lost, but it will go down in the record books,” said Desiree Harrison Brown, trade relations specialist for the Virginia Wine Board.
Grape exchange on the cards
Emergency support is on the cards, and db can reveal that the state is now going through a consultation process regarding a potential grape exchange like the one that Washington State entered into with Canada’s British Columbia when BC lost the lion’s share of its harvest to frost in 2024.
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