Vineyard & Winery Management Magazine
PD-Resistant Grapevines Move Closer to Commercial Availability
UC Davis presents project update at 2011 PD research symposium
By Ted Rieger, senior feature editor
Sacramento, Calif.--Grapevines bred for Pierce's disease (PD) resistance by viticulture professor and geneticist Dr. Andy Walker of UC Davis have produced good results in field trials and in small-lot winemaking trials. The most promising of these selections could be given to Foundation Plant Services (FPS) at UC Davis as early as next winter to begin the testing process to become registered or certified as FPS grapevine selections for release to the public.
"We now have resistant selections that look like vinifera, act like vinifera, and hopefully will taste like vinifera," he told attendees.
Walker presented an update on this multi-year research project using traditional grapevine breeding methods at the 2011 Pierce's Disease Research Symposium held December 13-15. The annual symposium, organized and presented by the California Department of Food and Agriculture's (CDFA) Pierce's Disease Control Program, brings together researchers from throughout the United States to present PD research updates. Many of the symposium's featured projects were funded by the CDFA PD/Glassy-winged Sharpshooter (GWSS) Board.
Discussing the ultimate commercial uses for the PD-resistant vinifera selections, Walker said he believes they could be used for production of both varietal and blended wines in locations with high PD pressure. In California, this would be locations in Riverside County and the South San Joaquin Valley, where vineyards are located near citrus groves that harbor overwintering populations of GWSS. They could also be used in North Coast vineyards to provide viable production vines in riparian buffer zones where PD pressure is high. These vinifera selections could also provide higher quality wine production in the Southeast, where PD currently limits production to native and hybrid wine grape varieties.
Genetic Screening
Walker's lab has been genetically screening and evaluating PD-resistant grape material with origins from the native grape species, Vitis arizonica, which is endemic to the southwest U.S. and northern Mexico. Researchers have identified a known PD resistance gene, PdR1, originally found in the sub-species Vitis arizonica/candicans in vines collected from Monterrey, Mexico.
Their objective is to breed PD-resistant wine grapes of major varietal cultivars of high quality Vitis vinifera with selections resistant to Xyella fastidiosa, the bacterium that causes PD, and sources identified from Vitis arizonica. Additional resistant V. arizonica plant material collected more recently from locations in Mexico and Texas have shown even higher resistance genes than the original material. These are being introduced into the breeding process to provide multiple resistance sources.
The breeding process involves producing grape seedlings and seeds over several generations that retain the PD resistance gene, while also increasing the genetic level of the desired vinifera variety in each generation through backcross techniques. The first-generation is 50% vinifera, and subsequent crossings increase the percentages in each stage to 75%, 88%, 94%, and finally to 97%, which is the goal for release of commercial selections. Small-scale trial wines have been produced and sampled from fruit produced at the different vinifera levels.
"We see aggressive, herbaceous character from the arizonica influence at the 75% level, and a bit less at 88%,” Walker explained. “At 94%, the wild character is almost gone and some selections have shown good wine quality and scored well."
Field Testing
Field testing of resistant grapevine seedlings is being conducted in Yountville in Napa Valley, and in Dry Creek in Sonoma County, in riparian buffer areas near vineyards that have high PD pressure vectored by resident populations of the blue-green sharpshooter.
In spring 2010, about 2,000 of the 2009 crossed seedings of 97% vinifera were planted in field trials with PdR1. In September 2011, fruit produced from 1,200 of the seedlings was evaluated for fruit quality for the first time with the 97% vinifera varietal parentage that included cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay, chenin blanc, pinot noir, riesling, sylvaner and zinfandel.
In 2011, 15 wine lots were made – two at the 87% vinifera level, four at the 94% level, and one at the 97% level. The selection of the one wine made at the 97% level, a chardonnay, looks very promising. The rest of the 97% selections are expected to provide fruit for small-scale winemaking in 2012, and Walker hopes to choose selections from these for larger-scale field testing and winemaking. Small-scale blended wines were also made with a white 94% vinifera selection with Napa Valley sauvignon blanc (25%/75%) and a red 94% vinifera selection with a Napa Valley merlot to mimic how these selections might be used in North Coast PD hot spots.
A PDF copy of the 2011 PD Research Symposium Proceedings is available here.
Pennsylvania Wine Kiosk Fiasco Raises Larger Issues
PLCB opponents say it’s time to privatize the state’s alcohol sales
By David Falchek
Criticism of the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) continues to mount in the wake of the state agency’s failed wine bottle kiosk program, which was designed to allow consumers to purchase wine in supermarkets via vending machines.
In late September, after months of malfunction and ridicule, the state agency pulled the monoliths from grocery stores throughout Pennsylvania. Originally viewed as a way to modernize wine buying, the kiosks first began appearing in supermarkets in June of 2010.
The machines required customers to swipe a driver’s license and credit card, then submit to a breathalyzer test – all under the watchful eye of state employees monitoring the transaction from Harrisburg via camera. Once approved to make the purchase, the buyer was charged a “convenience fee” for the transaction.
The machines often broke down and needed to be hauled off for repair, limiting their sales potential. PLCB projected sales of 30 bottles per day per machine, but agency figures show that sales reached only half that amount. Earlier this year, the kiosks were evicted by Wegmans supermarket, citing “poor customer experience.” The Rochester-based supermarket chain is a recognized advocate for liberalizing access to wine in states where it operates. “The kiosks have not realized their potential, and in some ways have been detrimental to our stores,” Wegmans said in a statement.
The PLCB pulled the plug on the all the devices in September when their manufacturer, Simple Brands LLC, defaulted on a $1.1 million payment to the state to cover the state’s expenses for the program, as per the contract.
More recently, the Independent State Store Union, representative of PLCB store managers and staunch defender of state control, called for PLCB executive Joe Conti to resign. The organization opposed the kiosks, viewing them as expanding access to alcohol beyond stores managed by their members. The group, which also opposes online sales, direct shipping and co-location of state-run stores with food stores, viewed the kiosks as the latest attempt at an internal sabotage.
A state auditor found deficiencies in the kiosk program from the start, including the bidding process. A 2008 document that recently surfaced showed that the PLCB’s internal evaluation committee saw trouble; it recommended that the board not negotiate with Simple Brands and predicted that consumers would disapprove of the machines and the personal intrusion required in order to buy wine. But under pressure from Conti, the agency continued to pursue the kiosks.
Conti defended his override of the committee saying, “A modern retailer has to try new things.” Conti is a former township supervisor who was later elected to the state house and senate before being named executive at the PLCB in 2006. Ironically, during his tenure in the Senate, he supported an earlier privatization effort.
The controversy comes at a time when the PLCB faces its greatest existential threat since it was created after the repeal of Prohibition, when then-Gov. Gifford Pinchot charged the agency with making the purchase of alcohol as "inconvenient and expensive as possible." Today, the agency confronts solid privatization proposals in the legislature and popular support to privatize the retail system. The kiosks have become a symbol in the debate.
“From start to finish, the kiosk debacle is emblematic of a failed system and a failed agency and illustrates why a government entity can not and should not be in a retail and wholesale industry,” said Steve Miskin, an aide to Rep. Mike Turzai, author of the house bill to privatize. “A private business would not have done this and would not have lost a million dollars on the deal.” The PLCB says it had the best of intentions: higher margins and customer convenience. Even private retailers’ initiatives are all effective, said agency spokesperson Stacey Witalec.
Witalec told Vineyard & Winery Management that the PLCB successfully runs the state system, which “works best for Pennsylvania.” She noted that “consumers are happy with the selection, price and protections in place to deny alcohol to the under-aged and the intoxicated.”
According to a recently released Quinnipiac University poll of Pennsylvania voters, 62% favor privatization. Witalec notes that that’s actually 7 points lower than other privatization polls, but adds that the agency doesn’t put much stock in polls.
Republican Governor Tom Corbett is the third governor in 30 years to push privatization, following Dick Thornburgh and Tom Ridge.
Monopoly supporters have tried to make a fiscal case for preserving the system – citing the agency’s $500 million annual contribution to the state. However, privatization advocates point out that a private system would bring in $410 million in taxes, and that the additional $90 million “profit” could easily be made up by stopping “border bleed” – the common, though illegal, practice of Pennsylvania citizens going to neighboring states, or online, to take advantage of a cheaper, expanded selection of alcohol. How much the state’s economy looses from border bleed is hard to pinpoint, however.
The PLCB and its advocates, meanwhile, are floating proposals to improve rather than remove the system. One would relieve the PLCB of civil service requirements. The current civil service exam for store employees does not include customer service or product knowledge. Another proposal would keep the employees and the preserve the state monopoly, but put the stores under private management.
Opponents say that those measures don’t begin to address wine and beverage alcohol consumers’ concerns about service and selection. Even the state’s “specialty” stores, with an expanded selection, have only about 3,000 wine SKUs. With 670 “state stores,” Pennsylvania has fewer places to purchase wine and spirits than the state of Delaware or the city of Chicago.
Last week, Gov. Corbett appointed business leaders and political power-brokers to an advisory committee to help develop policies concerning privatizing the state's liquor stores, roads, bridges and other assets. Among the 23 members is Jonathan Newman, former chairman of the PLCB and architect of reforms that made the system more tolerable. He now favors privatizing alcohol sales.
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Mexican-American Vintners ‘Christen' New Trade Association
NVMAVA aims to promote wines made by Mexican-Americans
By Tina Caputo
Calistoga, Calif. - On Saturday, July 30, the Napa Valley Mexican-American Vintners Association (NVMAVA) held its inaugural celebration at Maldonado Vineyards in Calistoga. The event - dubbed "Bautiza," or "christening" in Spanish - was open to the public, and sold out at 300 attendees.
The launch of NVMAVA marks the first time in U.S. history that Mexican-American vintners have officially joined forces to form a trade association. The non-profit organization's mission is to promote Napa Valley and Sonoma Valley wines made by Mexican-Americans, to advocate quality standards for members, and to support the contributions of Mexican-Americans to the U.S. wine industry.
"I think it's going to represent the hope of the new immigrants... the present and future of the American Dream," said Pedro Ceja, co-founder of Ceja Vineyards in Napa.
According to Rolando Herrera, NVMAVA president and owner of Mi Sueño Winery in Napa, an important part of the association's mission is to provide guidance and education to the next generation of Mexican-American vintners. "We want to be able to share with them our path and our stories, he said. "That's a huge, huge advantage. I wish I had a role model back in the `80s when I got into this business who could have led me."
NVMAVA is also a milestone in bringing the region's vintners together, Herrera said. "This represents that we are one community - that we are one for the first time as Mexican-American vintners. A lot of these vintners I've known since second grade in St. Helena, and never had the opportunity to sit down and have a glass of wine as friends, family and businessmen who want to give back to our community."
NVMAVA members pouring at the Bautiza event included Alex Sotelo Cellars, Ceja Vineyards, Delgadillo Cellars, Encanto Vineyards, Maldonado Family Vineyards, Marita's Vineyards, Mi Sueño Winery, Renteria Wines, Robledo Family Vineyards, Rios Wine Company and Voces Wines.
Guests included Telemundo journalist Cristina Londoño, who presented a video about the history of Mexicans' contributions to the California wine industry, and Tony Godoy, son of Leonel Godoy, Governor of Michoacan, Mexico.
Many of NVMAVA's members began their careers as vineyard or cellar workers, then worked their way up through the ranks to eventually found their own wineries and vineyards.
Herrera, for example, started out as a vineyard worker, until he was recruited to help Warren Winiarski build a rock wall at Stag's Leap Wine Cellars. "He liked my work ethic, so he offered me a job during the harvest of 1985," he said. After years of washing barrels and performing other "cellar rat" duties, he decided to take the leap of making his own wine in 1996. Today he produces between 8,000 and 10,000 cases a year under the name Mi Sueño, which translates to "my dream."
For more information about the Napa Valley Mexican-American Vintners Association visit www.nvmava.org.
Photos courtesy of © Yoshi Morimoto / YM Images
Watch an interview with NVMAVA President Rolando Herrera:
International Eastern Wine Competition Heads West
Annual ‘eastern' wine competition takes a detour through Sonoma County
This year's International Eastern Wine Competition (IEWC) featured a unique twist: It was held on the West Coast. The 35th annual competition organized by Vineyard & Winery Management (V&WM) took place June 14-15, 2011 at Santa Rosa Junior College's Shone Farm, located in the heart of California's Russian River Valley AVA. In previous years, the competition was held in New York's Finger Lakes region.
The reason for the switch was one familiar to many small wineries across the United States: wine shipping restrictions. New York state laws require wines from outside the state to be shipped to a local distributor, and this year, V&WM's usual distributor was not available to accept IEWC deliveries.
"Competitions rely on a large number of volunteers to unpack wine entry shipments, code the bottles and organize them by varietal category," said IEWC chairman Linda Murphy. "When we could not secure a licensed wholesaler near the IEWC Finger Lakes volunteer base, we moved the judging, and judges, to California, where V&WM has a crack competition crew in place, and there are no restrictions on shipping wine across state lines."
The Eastern and Midwestern judges who made the trip to Santa Rosa had no complaints about the location change.
"It's always the people who make this a great competition - fellow judges and superb back room staff - but the 
fantastic surroundings this year were an uncommon benefit," said winemaker Peter Bell of Fox Run Vineyards in Penn Yan, N.Y. "The Eastern flavor of the competition came through loud and clear once we started judging, and I still thought of this event as retaining its particular importance to wineries east of the Rockies."
In addition to wines from the eastern United States and the Midwest, IEWC evaluates wines from the western U.S., Canada and beyond. The competition also includes the Riesling Championship, which honors the best Riesling of each year's IEWC.
The 2011 competition included nearly 1,400 entries, with 54 double gold, 81 gold, 360 silver and 365 bronze medals awarded by a team of professional wine judges from across the country.
"It was no surprise that the East and Midwest did extremely well in the competition," Murphy said, "as quality continues to soar, particularly in white and late-harvest wines. Magnotta Winery's G. Marquis 2009 Riesling Icewine from the Niagara Peninsula in Ontario, Canada, was chosen Best of Show, Riesling Champion and Best Dessert Wine. Eleven New York white wines won double-gold medals, and two Midwest wines took top honors: The Tabor Hill 2010 Traminette from Lake Michigan Shore won Best White Wine, and Ferrante Winery in Ohio won Best Rosé for its non-vintage Rosato Rosé, with an American appellation."
Sweepstakes winners for the 2011 IEWC include:
Best of Show
Magnotta Winery & G. Marquis, 2009 Riesling Icewine, Niagara Peninsula (DVA), G. Marquis Silver Line, $19.95
Riesling Championship
Magnotta Winery & G. Marquis, 2009 Riesling Icewine, Niagara Peninsula (DVA), G. Marquis Silver Line, $19.95
Best White
Tabor Hill, 2010 Traminette, Lake Michigan Shore (AVA), $18.95
Best Red
Raymond Burr Vineyards, 2008 Cabernet Franc, Dry Creek Valley (AVA), $38
Best Rose
Ferrante Winery, NV Rosato, America (Country Appellation), $7.99
Best Fruit Wine
Prince Michel Rapidan River, NV Peach, America (Country Appellation), $12.99
Best Dessert Wine
Magnotta Winery & G. Marquis, 09 Riesling Icewine, Niagara Peninsula (DVA), G. Marquis Silver Line, $19.95
For a full list of competition results and judges, see http://www.vwm-online.com/wine_competitions/intl_eastern/results.asp.
Jerry Lohr Receives ASEV's Highest Honor
By Ted Rieger
Monterey, Calif. - Jerry Lohr, president and owner of J. Lohr Vineyards & Wines, was presented with the American Society for Enology and Viticulture (ASEV) Merit Award on June 22, at the annual ASEV National Conference in Monterey, Calif.
The Merit Award, presented to recognize outstanding contributions to the wine industry, is ASEV's highest honor. Past recipients include industry legends Robert Mondavi, Ernest Gallo, Julio Gallo, Louis Martini, Andre Tchelistcheff, Maynard Amerine and Harold Olmo.
Lohr entered the wine business in the early 1970s when he began researching grape growing areas in California. This led him to develop his first vineyard in 1972 as a pioneering grower in the Arroyo Seco area of Monterey County. In 1974 he founded J. Lohr Winery, which is today among the top 20 American wine companies in annual production.
Lohr was selected as Merit Award recipient not only for his professional accomplishments, but for his commitment to wine industry research and education. He was a founder of Wine Vision, a group that promotes a long-range view of the wine industry; and the National Grape & Wine Initiative, a coalition representing winegrowers, wineries and academic institutions committed to improving the industry. More recently, he provided significant funding for the construction of the new UC Davis Teaching and Research Winery.
"Jerry Lohr knows that one company alone cannot make California wine famous," said Dr. Andy Waterhouse, chair of the UC Davis Department of Viticulture and Enology. "For the past 30 years, he has worked to improve and promote the wine industry. He firmly believes in a building a stronger wine community through the cooperative efforts of all parties for the benefit of everyone involved."
During his presentation, Lohr cited the importance of Wine Vision's role as an early promoter of sustainability. "Now we have a very successful sustainability effort for the industry," he noted, "with the California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance supported by the Wine Institute and the California Association of Winegrape Growers (CAWG)."
Another of Lohr's long-term goals has been to make wine an integral part of American culture. He expressed disappointment with the slow growth in annual per capita wine consumption in the United States, but on a positive note he said, "Today, there is a wine industry that is growing in virtually every state in the U.S." As a result, "there now is a wine culture that is growing, and we've also increased the quality of wine dramatically throughout the U.S."
Highlighting the theme of industry cooperation, Lohr throughout his talk recognized individuals who had contributed to the betterment of the industry. He also took advantage of the opportunity to further his industry-wide agenda. "I want to challenge everyone to step up, I'm here to foment and ferment a 'research revolution,'" he said. Some current projects he listed that need support include: addressing water issues in California's Central Coast vineyards, grapevine genomic research to enable marker-assisted breeding, and providing long-term funding for Dr. Andy Walker's lab at UC Davis to breed pest- and disease-resistant grapevines.
In conclusion, he formally asked every audience member to contribute to the industry's future. Everyone found a 3-inch by 5-inch card at their seat and was asked to attach their business card and write down what they could do to assist with industry research and education - from funding to facility planning to hosting an educational meeting.
Lohr personally collected the cards at the door as people left the room.
How to Make a Sweepstakes-Winning Wine
Winemakers share their goals and production techniques
By Tina Caputo, Editor-in-Chief
The results are in for Vineyard & Winery Management's annual West Coast Wine Competition, held April 26-28 in Healdsburg, Calif. When the final judges' notes were collected and tallied, four wines - all from California - took top honors.
The Scheid Vineyards 2008 Monterey Pinot Noir ($32) won Best of Show in the Table Wine category, as well as the Sweepstakes award for Best Red Wine. The Gloria Ferrer Caves & Vineyards 2002 Royal Cuvee, Carneros ($32) was the Sweepstakes winner for Best Sparkling Wine. The Best White Wine prize went the Bogle 2010 California Sauvignon Blanc ($9), and the Navarro Vineyards 2010 Cluster Select Late Harvest Muscat Blanc from Anderson Valley ($59) won Best Dessert Wine.
We asked the winemakers responsible for the Best in Show and Sweepstakes winners to share the stylistic goals and production techniques behind their wines.
Dave Nagengast, Scheid Vineyards
According to Nagengast, a fruit-forward Monterey pinot noir was his goal, "with bright fruit, spicy complexity and a subtle oak richness for balance."
To achieve that end, the Scheid team selected several clones from various vineyard locations, including the Riverview Vineyard in Soledad, the Mesa del Rio Vineyard near Greenfield and Scheid's Viento Vineyard. The grapes were harvested at full ripeness, Nagengast said, "but were not overripe."
The lots were kept separate until blending to bring out the full expression of the different sources.
Fermentation took place in 1-ton bins, and Nagengast used a mixture of RC 212 yeast and Assmenhausen. "We also try others on occasion, and have experimented with native yeast fermentations," he said.
After pressing with a Diemme 50 hL pneumatic bladder press, the wine was left to settle in small stainless steel tanks. The wine was stored in French oak barrels - 29% new, medium to medium-plus toast - from various suppliers, with the remainder stored in older, more neutral barrels and one small French oak tank. The wine spent 10 months in oak before bottling.
Steven Urberg, Gloria Ferrer Caves & Vineyards
When making the 2002 Royal Cuvee sparkling wine, Urberg said he focused on the wine's structure. "We wanted to create a wine that will carry its fruit through extended aging on the yeast," he explained. "This way we gain both the texture and toasty characters gained by yeast age along with the red fruit pinot noir characters and apple, citrus and pear characters from the chardonnay."
Most of the fruit came from Gloria Ferrer's vineyards in Sonoma Carneros, with some Napa Carneros chardonnay and pinot noir from Healdsburg added to the blend. The fruit was all hand picked - mostly at night to make sure it arrived cold to the presses - and gently pressed as whole clusters.
Only the first light press fraction was used for the blend. "This careful handling minimizes the contact of the juice with the skins and seeds, and avoids the extraction of bitter and astringent compounds into the juice," Urberg said.
Next the wine was blended for aging. "The lower pH and persistent tannin structure of Carneros chardonnay ages very well in sparkling wines," he added. "So we blend with 33% chardonnay to give the wine longevity and complexity. The pinot noir contributes a round and full mouthfeel and brings in the red fruit characters." In all, 16 individual lots were
used to create the blend.
"Blending is always the greatest challenge with a wine like this," Urberg said. "It takes a long time adjusting the blend to get the balance that we are looking for."
No barrels were used in the wine's production. Stainless steel tanks were used for primary fermentation, with secondary fermentation taking place in the bottle. A Diemme AR150 was used for pressing. Urberg used PDM yeast for primary fermentation. "For secondary fermentation," he noted, "we maintain our own yeast cultures."
The wine spent six years in bottle on the yeast, along with a minimum of six months under cork.
Eric Aafedt, Bogle Winery
When creating Bogle's sauvignon blanc, Aafedt aimed for a crisp, clean wine, with plenty of acidity. "We were shooting for a very varietal sauvignon blanc," he said, with notes of freshly mowed grass and asparagus, along with tropical fruit.
"To preserve the green character we minimized leaf pulling in the vineyard, retaining methoxy pyrazines," he added. "Fruit was sourced from cooler areas in the Monterey County and Russian River areas. It was picked at lower brix and whole cluster pressed."
Bogle's winemaking team employed reductive winemaking techniques, Aafedt said, which can be challenging because the process must be monitored so as to not create too much reduction and thus, sulfide production.
The wine was fermented at 50°F in stainless steel tanks with the help of Anchor Wine Yeast's Vin 13 yeast. Pressing took place in a Bucher 2500 bladder tank press, and the wine was released March 1, 2010.
Jim Klein, Navarro Vineyards
When Klein set out to make 2010 muscat from the winery's estate fruit, he was aiming for a dry wine. But the weather dictated otherwise. "We had a late, cold year in 2010 and 
then rains hit the first week of October," he said. "Botrytis bloom was at significant levels on certain vines and in interior clusters. We harvested by hand, selecting the most rotted fruit for sweet late harvest fruit and sound fruit for our dry muscat."
Weather challenges aside, Klein noted, late harvest wines always require patience to produce. "It takes eight hours in the press and another eight weeks for fermentation to complete," he said. "But with high natural acidity and sugar the wines tend to take care of themselves."
The wine was made in stainless steel tanks, and Klein used a 1984 model Europress 3000 press retrofitted with programmable logic controls. "We learned through trial - and some wretched errors - that only EC1118 yeast can handle stressful high osmotic conditions without producing high VA," he said.
"The wine was fermented in stainless, and it stopped naturally in January at 20.9% residual sugar with only 8.3% alcohol. It was settled with bentonite and sheet gel, and filtered and bottled in February." The wine was released in March.
The result, Klein said, is a wine with "orange blossom and passion fruit aromas, and satsuma orange, apricot, peach and honey on the palate."
For complete results of the 2011 West Coast Wine Competition, see www.vwm-online.com/wine_competitions/west_coast/results.asp.
‘New Grape Seller' Emerges from Recession
Glenn Proctor of Ciatti Co. gives optimistic overview of California grape market
By Tina Caputo, Editor-in-Chief
The mood among California grapegrowers took an optimistic turn at the 2011 Vineyard Economics Seminar, held May 10 at the Napa Valley Marriott in Napa, Calif. The event was organized by the Wine Symposium Group and co-sponsored by Vineyard & Winery Management magazine.
In the seminar's opening session, Glenn Proctor, partner at the grape brokerage firm Ciatti Co. LLC, gave a cautiously optimistic overview of the 2011 California grape market.
"We're starting to see some positive sales numbers," he noted, citing Silicon Valley Bank's "2011-2012 State of the Wine Industry Report," which forecasted 11%-15% growth in fine wine sales for 2011.
Gone are the gluts of previous years, he said, and wineries are once again looking to buy grapes. "Supply is no longer a dirty word," he said. The grape market is shifting from a buyer's market to a seller's market, and growers are now able to sell their fruit at sustainable prices. "It's a different market today."
Along with a different market, a new breed of grapegrower has emerged from the recession, Proctor said. This "New Grape Seller" has had to adapt in order to survive, and no longer relies on selling grapes as his only means of income. The new grower is a "price maker" instead of a "price taker," and is using more non-traditional methods - such as producing bulk wines and selling case goods - to sell his or her product.
In the Central Valley, nearly all fruit has been contracted. Grape pricing has increased over 2010, with asking prices rising for remaining supply. Red varieties and muscat sales are "extremely strong," Proctor said, with longer-term contracts being offered to growers.
The Coastal region has experienced a particularly difficult market in the last two years, but it is showing signs of improvement. "Strong early buying activity has focused on reds with improved pricing," Proctor told attendees. However, chardonnay grapes are still difficult to market.
In the Napa and Sonoma regions, there has been strong early activity on Napa Valley cabernet sauvignon, with the market driven by negotiant buyers and repositioned brands. The market is still difficult for chardonnay grapes. Sonoma buying activity has lagged a bit behind that of Napa, with buyers seeking out fruit from specific appellations and only buying at "the right price."
Spot market grape pricing has shown improvement across the state. For example, per-ton prices for Napa Valley chardonnay have increased from $700-$1,300 in 2010 to $1,300-$2,000 in 2011. Central Coast pinot noir prices rose from $750-$1,300 in 2010 to $1,300-$2,200 in 2011. Napa cabernet sauvignon prices increased from $1,000-$2,800 in 2010 to $2,400-$4,000 in 2011.
In an overview of the bulk market, Proctor reported that the market for reds is tight, while the market for whites is getting better. Napa cabernet sauvignon and merlot are in high demand, with buyers moving early to 2010 reds. Overall, bulk market pricing has improved during the last year.
A look at the latest California grape acreage figures showed that non-bearing vines account for just 4% of the state's total acreage - down from an average figure of 10%. That begs the question of what should be replanted, and where.
"The industry right now has to make some decisions about what we want to be," Proctor said. "If we don't replant in an increasing demand market, we will continue to lose market share. (Buyers) will replace us."
To avoid that scenario, growers need to prepare and position themselves for a sustainable and successful future. "Profitability is potentially around the corner, Proctor said. "It might actually be worth being a grapegrower again."
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