California wine grape harvest defies drought and earthquake

California's wine grape harvest was its third largest at about 3.9 million tons, despite lingering drought conditions. That is some 8-percent less than the previous year, when producers harvested a record 4.24 million tons, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The second-largest crop was 4.02 million tons in 2012. The poorest harvest in the decade was 2.77 million tons in 2004.

 

An earthquake struck the Napa Valley in late August, affecting some wineries and causing damage estimated at anywhere from $500 million to $4 billion. However, this is not thought to have had an adverse effect on grape harvests in the area. Most Napa wineries were quickly back in business, or never saw an interruption at all. Some had minor losses, while others suffered damage to equipment and structures.

 

Hess Collection in Napa reported the loss of about 15,000 cases of wine due to spilling and damage to tanks. The company had to revise its harvest planning due to the disruption. B.R. Cohn Winery in Glen Ellen at first feared significant losses, but this proved to be much overstated.

 

The Wine Institute, which represents over 1,000 California wineries and associated businesses, stated that 2014 also saw one of the earliest harvests in recent years. This was due to warm temperatures and drought, which combined to cause an early bud break. The harvest started in July and tapered off in the middle of October.

 

Wine grapes can deal fairly well with drought conditions, even over a number of years, requiring less water than most crops. Paradoxically, small yields can sometimes result in grapes that produce higher quality wines.

 

California grape growers are working to conserve water. Some are using drip-irrigation systems and other means to use less water. They also try to recycle water when they can.

 

Wine grape growers and vintners tend to have nice things to say about harvests, and this was true in 2014. While this year’s harvest was quite early, at least one winemaker, Renee Ary of Duckhorn Vineyards in St. Helena, California, stated that it will turn out to be one of the best. Both the yields and quality were greater than average, according to Ary, who believes 2014 will be notable for an abundance of good California wines.

 

European wine grape harvests varied according to the country, said “The Drinks Business.” French grape growers had a difficult 2013, from which they rebounded in 2014 with an increase of 10 percent, while the Italians suffered from bad weather.

 

France did well enough to surpass Italy and regain its position as the top wine producer. Total world production was 271 million hectoliters, some 6 percent less than in 2013, which was already a slack year. Italian production slid 15 percent to 44.4 million hectoliters, while France produced 10 percent more than last year, some 46.2 million hectoliters.

 

France’s Champagne region saw wet summer weather mitigated by warmer, dryer weather in September, with chardonnay grapes faring better than pinot noir. Grapes in this region are thought to have similar ripeness and acidity to the 2008 crop.

 

Bordeaux finally saw a good crop after several poor years. Warm fall weather was particularly good for Bordeaux’s red grapes, which could result in some interesting wines.

 

Burgundy started strong with warm spring weather, only to suffer from hail in June. Producers who dodged the hail threat should turn out some fresh flavored wines that are easy to drink.

 

The northern Rhone producers fared well, while the southern Rhone region produced a variable crop of Grenache grapes that required intensive sorting to obtain suitable fruit for winemaking. The northern Rhone did see some problems from late rains that held up harvests.

 

Sicilian producers had good news in a crop that showed great promise, particularly in white grapes with high acidity.

 

The Douro region also had a lot of rain that eroded soil in some areas. However, there were some fine grapes produced in some parts of the region, which could result in some fine wines, particularly Ports.

 

Spanish grape production is expected to revert to average after a record crop last year. For example, Rioja was looking to produce about 368 million kilograms (405,000 tons), compared to 434 million kilograms in 2013, or about 478,000 tons.
German producers suffered this year from heavy rain, but nonetheless saw good quality and healthy quantities of grapes. Total production is expected to be about 16 percent higher this year than last.