Frost Kills
Grant Street Vineyards just wrapped up crush over the weekend. The quality of our fruit was outstanding and can't wait to taste it along the way!
One thing to note - our volume was down about 30% from the previous two years, due to the severe frost earlier this year in Calistoga.
I am curious - are other folks seeing a dramatic decrease in volume this harvest? I've heard #'s across the board ranging from 10% all the way up to 55%. Thanks in advance for sharing!
One thing to note - our volume was down about 30% from the previous two years, due to the severe frost earlier this year in Calistoga.
I am curious - are other folks seeing a dramatic decrease in volume this harvest? I've heard #'s across the board ranging from 10% all the way up to 55%. Thanks in advance for sharing!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Steven on -
I was just with a few growers and they said volume was down but quality was up - so sounds a similar story.
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Permalink Reply by Todd Hansen on -
Here in the northern Willamette Valley we've had surprisingly low yields, especially at more established vineyards. Following a cool spring and late bud break and bloom, we dropped fruit early and aggressively to help what we left on the vine get ripe. Also, it's been theorized that the shortened growing season led to less cell division from lag phase to ripeness, so smaller berries. To top it all off, the cool, wet weather contributed to lots of necrosis - both bud and bunch stem.
What we've brought in has been excellent fruit, but I'm looking at 1.25 to 1.5 where we generally target 2 to 2.25 tons per acre. We still have a week or so until we're finished picking.
Last year we had higher than average yields, and with the current economy this might work out -- keeping supply and demand in balance. (I'm trying to look on the bright side.)
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