November 2020

This is our first Newsletter since July. We apologize for no updates before and during the harvest season. Circumstances were changing so quickly that, at times, we did not know how the circumstances would affect us and the harvest. Between the effects of the Covid-19 lockdowns, the long and high heat wave, the lightness of some of the crops, the anomaly of the Lodi District, the trucking-freight situation and ultimately the California Fires were constant questions that had no immediate answers.

THE COVID-19 LOCKDOWN

We did not know initially how Covid-19 would affect our business. As we started to talk to a lot of our winery customers, we were surprised to find that wineries that had commercial distribution for their wines were having an increase in their sales and were eager buyers for grapes. Those wineries that relied solely on tasting room sales and other social gathering events were very skeptical and understandably cautious. We did have some wineries that have been ordering grapes from us for years but were not able to do so this year.

When we started to talk to our distributors, they seemed to have the same indications from their customers—they desired to make homemade wine more than ever. I guess it reflected the significant increase of off the shelf wine sales. The public was staying at home and drinking more. Home winemaking also provided families with time together and perhaps passing on of traditions. Everyone was concerned how the distributors would handle Covid-19 protocols in their facilities. Most distributors did not have a problem mainly by having customers preorder their grapes.

THE LONG HEAT WAVES

California had one of its longest and hottest heat waves in late August and early September ever experienced. Growers had to irrigate their vineyards constantly in order to keep their crops from withering. With the heat, Chardonnay matured very early and, for the very first time, we didn’t harvest any Chardonnay this season. They were just too early and did not do well after the heat. Also, after heat and irrigation, sugar development was hindered throughout the season.  It persisted in almost all varieties. Some vineyards, especially some Syrah, never did get the desired sugar.

THE LIGHT GRAPE CROPS

From the very beginning, it was obvious that almost all varieties were going to be short on production. Some proved to be short as high as 70% of their typical crop production. The heat obviously had a big effect. We usually harvest up to 3 vineyards of Old Vine Zinfandel and Merlot. This year it was 6 vineyards to yield the same tonnage. The heat also caused some Cabernet vineyards to wither before sugar development and we had to find other sources.  We were lucky to find sufficient volume of high quality grapes in a timely fashion for all varieties.  We probably inspected more vineyards than ever before and were kept busy visiting many vineyards.

THE ANOMALY OF THE LODI DISTRICT

At the start of the year there was a tremendous over abundance of wine and the prospect for most growers without contracts was not very good. There were a lot of grapes left on the vines in 2019 and growers pulled out their marginal vinyeards. They were concerned that they may not have a buyer for their grapes. Then Covid-19 struck, the lockdowns started, and everything changed. In stores, sales for wine grew at high percentages. In the spring, the large wineries saw this change and started to offer contracts for Cabernet Sauvignon all over the Lodi District.  Grant you they were at prices lower than the historical prices of the past few years but respectable. They were not buying grapes from any other region. As we have said in the past, the Lodi District gives winemakers the best quality for the price.

This anomaly was not apparent for the other varieties until later in the season. Once the realization took effect that there was a dramatic lack of production of all varieties, they aggressively tried to buy anything they could get their hands on. At the end of the season they even harvested some vineyards that were not pruned! There was not a vineyard in Lodi that was not picked.

THE FIRES

The California fires were devastating to the coastal wine districts. From the southern to the northern coastal counties, most vineyards were never picked. Smoke taint was and is a very existential problem in those areas. The Lodi district did not experience any ash or low-lying smoke. There was a long period of high haze that did obstruct direct sunlight. The only effect of this high haze seems to have been responsible for the slow sugar maturation over the area.  

THE TRUCKING SITUATION

Logistics was a problem through out the season. With restaurants being closed, a lot of refrigerated trucks did not have food service shipments coming back to California. Because of no return freight, rates increased from $2000 to $3000 for Eastern shipments out of California.  LTL rates also increased proportionally. At one time we were very frustrated that we could not get our orders out to our customers. Eventually everyone got their grapes except for a few customers in Florida. 

July 2020

COVID 19 AND THE GRAPE HARVEST

The Covid Pandemic influence on the upcoming season is an unknown factor. How it will affect market conditions is probably the biggest unknown factor. In-store wine sales are booming especially in the middle price range of $10.00 to $20.00. I heard that increase may have exceeded 20%. This is dramatic. In contrast many States, including California, are having a second shut down of winery tasting rooms where sales are almost nonexistent. The effect of these contrary conditions is a big question mark. Distributors and sellers of grapes to home winemakers must naturally adhere to all safety rules for their employees and customers. I do not see an obstacle for them to be open as grapes are a food product. As I had mentioned in our previous newsletter, our main picking crew is very experienced in Covid 19 protocol. They have been picking other farm products for both fresh and processing entities. Food and employee safety procedures will be adhered to by all our staff—from vineyard to cold storage. Since we own all our facilities, we know that is a fact.

WEATHER AND TIMING

We are having one of the best growing years for weather. There have not been too many spikes of hot weather. This last week was cool in the evening and daylight temperatures were in the mid 80s. It is expected to be warmer this upcoming week. Veraison or color change is occurring at a good pace. Maturity should be at least a week earlier than the last few years.

CROP SIZE

After a week of visiting vineyards and looking over the crop, we are convinced that the crop might be considered light in general. There are less bunches and both the berries and bunches do not look too large. I have heard no explanation for this, but we believe the drier winter must have been a factor. Hopefully, the lighter crop may help with the overproduction of grapes and reduce the large wine inventory that we have had in California.

Map of Lodi Grape Growing Areas

We have found a very interesting map of the Lodi District Area. Over the years we have picked grapes from most of the sub AVA’s. Over the years you could have seen LINDEN HILLS, ALTA MESA, CLEMENTS HILLS and last year BORDEN RANCH on our box labels. As you can see from the map, we tend to favor the eastern part of the Lodi District for some of the best grapes available in the District.

May 2020

We hope everyone is doing well during these difficult times. We have been preparing for the upcoming harvest and addressing concerns related to COVID-19. The picking and packing crew that we use for 95% of our harvesting needs is currently picking cherries for the fresh market. Before harvest everyone’s temperature is taken and results documented. Social distancing and other safety precautions are observed constantly during the day. Together, with the use of our Certified Global G.A.P. Food Safety cold storage, you can be assured that our grapes will be handled by everyone in the most responsible manner that is possible.

COVID-19 and the Wine Industry

There are still a lot of unknowns but there are a few facts that can be stated. Retail and wholesale wine sales have increased. This can be seen by observing how large wineries in California are busy bottling and selling wine. We are also selling some wine. As we stayed home, more wine and other alcohol was consumed (except for beer). I have heard many reasons for that phenomena. Maybe more meals with family or just plain relaxing while at home or something to kill the boredom. The simple truth was the fact that no alcohol was available outside the home in any social environment. Higher end wines are in trouble. Most upper end wines from smaller wineries are sold to restaurants or out of tasting rooms. That movement disappeared except for curbside pickup. How it will change over the next few months is anybody’s guess. The industry started the year with a glut of wine. Even now there is a glut of most wines. I have heard that most of the 2018 crop was still in the tanks. Wines that can be priced from $10.00 to $25.00 are the ones that have some market presence. We have heard from some of our customers. Those customers who have distributors and have some grocery shelf space say they may have to increase their orders for this year. Some wineries are putting a hold on their orders because of concerns about timing of their mobile bottling lines and not enough storage space. For the majority who depend on tasting rooms and local restaurants there is a big question mark. A lot depends on when their particular State’s rules for opening up occurs and initial restrictions.

COVID-19 and the Grape Industry

Without the bump in the in-store movement of wine, this year would have been a very difficult year for growers without contracts. Because of this bump, movement of wines has caused some grape activity to occur in the Lodi District. There has been some renewal of contracts of Old Vine Zinfandel and even some new contracts for Cabernet. For the Cabernets, contracts are at lower base price than previous long-term contracts. There is even some talk that wineries may be looking for Merlot. I have heard of no activity in other areas of the State for any varieties. In the May 18, 2020 Wall Street Journal there is an article by Jim Carlton. There is a picture description that states “The effects of Coronavirus-related lockdowns have been particularly painful for Sonoma and Napa winemaking counties.” In conclusion, for our wineries and home winemakers we MAY see a slight rise in the prices for grapes. For higher end areas, we may still see further drop in prices or prices similar to the end of last year.

Weather and Timing

Throughout the late winter and early spring, we have experienced ideal weather for the grape crop. It was not too hot or too cold. There has been some rain but one could consider it a relatively dry winter. At this time harvest does not appear to be as late as last year and may be a little early.

Grape Crop

Monday, 5/18/20, was the first day we went out and looked at the grape crop and talked to a few people. Most varieties have finished blooming and are shedding their blooms. It is much too early, but right now we are looking at a pretty fair crop. Bunches are bigger than normal but in some vineyards bunch counts are down. Old Vine Zinfandel is lighter than last year. Grapes pictured below are from Lodi 5/18/20.

December 2019

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

We hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving! It is always a pleasant task to write a newsletter this time of year. This year is no exception.  Even though there has been turmoil in the grape industry here in California and our dollar sales fell 3 percent, our volume of shipped product actually increased. This divergent result reflects the reduction in most prices for grapes in the 2019 season and also happily the increase of demand from most of our customers, both in distributors and winery customers. With the lower price of grapes, wineries increased their purchases and we successfully added new distributors in Vancouver, B.C. and Texas. A list of our current distributors can be found HERE. Thanks to everyone for your support.

 NEW GROWERS & VARIETIES

This year we increased our list of sources, varieties and locations for 2019 harvest.

The last few years we have specifically shipped Olmo Clone 4 Chardonnay very successfully. The initial vineyard was no longer available to ship during the 2019 season.  We looked for this specific Chardonnay clone and found another reliable source for this wonderful Chardonnay clone. 

 We have secured new sources for Sangiovese. One of these sources is a winery who raises Sangiovese in Amador County and has won gold medals with their Sangiovese wine. We have also bought some clone 2 Sangiovese that is located in the Clements foothills. Good Sangiovese is one varietal that still has relativity strong demand.

We also shipped some Teroldego for the first time. Teroldego is a dark skinned variety which produces pigmented wines with an intensely fruity character. It is grown almost nowhere in the world outside the Trentino-Alto Adige area in Northern Italy. We found a small planting here in California and are interested on hearing about the resulting wine. 

This year we actually found an old vine (head-pruned) Petit Sirah vineyard located in the Victor area, east of Lodi that had outstanding taste and flavor. Initial response has been very promising. We hope to maintain our relationship with this grower in the future.

Last year we picked 3 tons of Cabernet Sauvignon from the Wolfskill Vineyard located in Suisun Valley.  This year we nearly shipped 20 tons. This vineyard is located on a hillside within 200 yards of Napa County. Excellent reports are starting to come in about the wine this vineyard has produced

Chardonnay Olmo Clone 4

In 36 lb lugs - Lodi, CA - 8/23/19

Chardonnay Olmo Clone 4

In bins - Lodi, CA - 8/23/19

Head-pruned, Old Vine Petit Sirah

Lodi, CA - 10/8/19

Teroldego

Lodi, CA - 9/24/19

Wolfskill Cabernet Sauvignon

Suisun Valley, CA - 10/17/19

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 PATIENCE PAYS OFF

Most varieties matured later than the last several years. The cool wet spring, coupled with a mild summer, made for a later maturing crop.  Most varieties also had heavier than average crops especially Zinfandels and Merlot. Luckily we had anticipated the later maturity and some growers limited their irrigation programs. This also caused some smaller berry size and a little weakness in bunch firmness but it meant that early grape buyers had grapes with great flavor and good chemistry both in sugar and PH.  

As the season developed, Mother Nature cooperated nicely but not perfectly. We did have to quit picking several times and in some vineyards we returned many times to get the maturity we wanted. To insure proper maturity we also had taken samples from almost every vineyard and variety before we picked. In almost all instances we were gratified with the development of sugar. PHs remained in the 3.6 range. We will continue this program in the future. 

 WEAK MARKET

We anticipate the price of grapes in California to be weak within the foreseeable future. It has reached a point, however, that the cost of shipping hand harvested grapes, properly cooled and packaged, to be the major factor in the FOB pricing of the grapes. The actual cost of the grapes is currently about 30% to 40% of that pricing. With that in mind, we see pricing generally to be similar to this year with maybe a slight decrease. Grapes from higher end areas may see a greater price reduction.

July 2019

Another Great Grower

Brad Goehring has been elected by the California Winegrape Grower’s Association the 2019 Leader of the Year. Brad is a fourth generation grape grower. Last year we purchased some Petit Sirah and Old Vine Zinfandels from some of the Goehring Vineyards Inc. They were excellent grapes and we hope to continue this relation for years to come and with additional varieties. 

Timing Assesment 

 Throughout the month of July, we disciplined ourselves not to go out and look at the potential crop. We were convinced that the crop was much later than previous years and we could not come up with an accurate assessment as to maturity. Earlier this week we broke that discipline. Full blown anxiety took over. 

There is no question here in Northern California that we are at least two weeks behind “normal maturity”. Veraison in the early variety of Zinfandel is only about 15% to 50%. This puts us out at least 4 to 6 weeks.  Tempranillo color change is much higher. Many years ago a lot of Tempranillo was shipped in the beginning of the season by its old name of Valdepina when the Zinfandels were very late. We do not see any harvest before September 1st.

What confirms our assessment is, naturally, visual inspection and talking with growers, but the fact is that wineries and harvesters are delaying the hiring of sugar tester inspectors by at least two weeks.

Old Vine Zin - Lodi 7/23/19

Tempranillo - Lodi 7/23/19

Winery Activity

At this particular time there is NO winery activity. Part of the lack of activity can be a relation to the late timing of the harvest but most blogs are blaming the delay of government ruling on the E & J Gallo Winery’s purchase of a lot of the facilities and labels from Constellation Brands, Inc. No one knows if the deal will be approved, who is going to buy and/or crush the grapes. This needs to be resolved in the next few weeks for us to have a coherent season. We made reference to this issue in our April Newsletter.

Regardless of the result of the above issue we do expect a drop in price for some varieties especially Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandels. We may see a slight drop in other varieties including some Italian varieties.

Grape Crop Size

There is generally a good grape crop. There are some varieties and or locations that are showing a little lighter set but there is no generalization to expound at all. Almost all varieties are available, so please contact us with your needs for this upcoming season.

June 2019

Current Crop News

There is the potential for a very large grape crop this season. There is a good count of large bunches in most varieties. There does not appear to be any shattering. With the cold and wet spring, we anticipate this season we will be 2-3 weeks later than last year depending on the weather this summer. Prices probably will drop dramatically later in the season for some Cabernet Sauvignon in Coastal areas. Locally we are anticipating a slight drop in the price of Cabernet Sauvignon.

Great Merlot

Starting 5 years ago, we purchased and starting shipping Merlot from a ranch on the East Side of Lodi. It was love at first sight. It took quite a while for the grower to convince us to come out and look at the grapes. Upon inspecting the grapes and the vineyard, we instantly decided to buy the grapes. Over the years, they have not disappointed. Last season, the Merlot at this ranch was harvested at an ideal 25 Brix, 3.5 pH. Finally this year we are hearing about the correctness of our decision. Many wineries have complimented us on the quality of these grapes and the wine these grapes have made. One of our home winemakers, Joe DiPonzio Jr., won a Double Gold Medal at the Finger Lakes International Pro competition with his 2017 vintage. I was given a bottle and it was truly one of the best wines I have ever had. 

Last year we found another Merlot vineyard with almost the same quality located close to the original ranch. This second ranch for years was sold to Napa wineries. With our Merlot sales so strong we harvested close to a total of 200 tons of Merlot last year. We highly recommend you add some of these Merlot grapes to your 2019 crush.

Updating our Cold Storage Facility

Over the last couple of years, we have been updating our cold storage facility in Del Rey, CA.  The large facility was built in 1973 and over the years there were several expansions. It was specifically designed for grape storage and it has gained a reputation of being one of the best storage for grapes in the industry. We consider the facility an important factor in the success of our business. We are in the process of reassuring that all Federal, State, County and FSMA food safety rules and regulations are aligned with our Ag Food Safety Program.

Another Daughter Joining the Team

Many of you have become accustomed to communicating with my daughter Ally over the last few years. She has assumed a lot of the responsibilities of running the company. Now, my other daughter, Anna Colavita Solari, will be assuming other responsibilities. Hopefully next year, I will have them attend local winery shows around the country so everyone gets an opportunity to meet them.

April 2019

We hope everyone had a great Easter Holiday or Passover Celebration.

The timing of the arrival of these holidays in California has finally solidified the fact that winter is over and spring is here. Hopefully, the rains are over. We had the second best year for rainfall all over California. Officially, the drought is over. We do not need any more rain this year or mildew problems may develop. It also has been one of the coolest March’s and early-April in a long time. This contrasts with the warm springs of the last few years. We are anticipating that, in general, agriculture in California is two weeks later than last year.

California Final 2018 Grape Crush Report

The California Final 2018 Grape Crush Report was released a few days ago. The crush was the second highest ever reported. There were slightly over 2,500,000 tons of grapes crushed. The report showed good prices with the increased volume, however, there is a general consensus that prices for some varieties will fall in 2019. Wine sales have increased but at a much smaller percentage compared to the growth of production. Of course, the size of the 2019 crop will have a great influence on the extent of that fall. It will be about three to four weeks before any credible assessment of crop can be made. 

Gallo

Another unknown factor in the potential market for wine grapes this coming year will be the effect of Gallo’s purchase of a lot of Constellation’s brands and facilities. In the long run, this should help the wine industry and growers. Gallo’s marketing is phenomenal. Gallo has doubled in size between 1994 and 2005 and then doubled again between 2005 and 2016. It will be interesting what Gallo now does with these brands and facilities.

Finished Wine

We are happy to see a lot of our winery customers are looking for some finished wine. We have samples of wine going all over the country from various sources. The rise in our wine sales reflects, in a lot of instances, that wineries are selling out of the wine made with our grapes and want to make sure they have enough wine on hand to fulfill there needs. Please contact us, if you have some need for finished wines.

Coastal Pinot Noir

We noticed in the March 2019 WINE ENTHUSIAST issue that a 2016 Pinot Noir wine made by Williams Selyem winery received a 95 point rating (link to review here). What makes that great news for us is the source vineyard is the same vineyard where we source our Coastal Pinot Noir grapes. The vineyard is located in District 7, San Benito County.

Old Vine Carignane

Enclosed is a picture of our Mixed Black and Carignane vines. Starting this year we are going to classified these grapes as OLD VINE. They are from a vineyard that was planted in 1954 &1955.  We have been dealing with this grower and buying these grapes for over 20 years. They are some of the best Carignanes grown in the State. In all the years we have been harvesting these Carignane grapes, there has never was there ever a hint of mildew (which is common in the variety).

December 2018

We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and we want wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday Season!

RELIEF FROM THE FIRES

The fires in California have been devastating. With the loss of life and property so wide spread, it is a true disaster. In California the fires earlier in the year were in sections of California that didn’t affect a large segment of the population and there was a certain amount of complacency. But, the most recent fires in Malibu and especially Paradise have embedded a large part of the population with haze and smoke. For over a week, the entire San Francisco Bay area and the Northern Central Valley dealt with the smoke pollution. 

Thankfully, these fires did not occur during the growing or harvest season and will hardly affect agriculture. The rains are now upon us. It has cleared the air and relieved the potential of more fires in the near future. Hopefully, the rains will continue through the winter and prevent drought conditions.

WINE SALES INCREASING

From a Forbes article by Thomas Pellechia, the wine business market research and consulting firm BW166, LLC  recently reported that in the twelve month period ending in October 2018, total wine sales in the U.S. rose nearly 5%, of which almost $48 billion accounted for domestic wine sales, an increase of 4%.  What is even more important for wineries throughout the country is that DtC (Direct to Customer) shows significant growth. In that growth, second place are red blends that sell between $30-$59.99/bottle. Most of the upward wine buying trend had been in the under $20/bottle for quite some time, but this latest report indicates that steady economic growth over the past few years may be behind the development of wine buyers with more disposable income willing to spend up. In fact, red wines priced $30/bottle and up account for 80% of DtC blended red wine shipments. 

MARKETING IS CHANGING

For more than twenty years, we have been attending Winery Conferences all over the country. As yet, we have not made any plans for the 2019 year, other than attending for a day to the Unified Wine & Grape Symposium here in California. Over the last few years, new business at these conferences has diminished. It is always a great pleasure to see our customers at these shows, but it is just too early in the year to discuss their upcoming needs. Also, we find that most of our new business comes from word of mouth, the internet through our website, and winemakers who move to new positions and their wineries are growing or they move to a new winery. 

Last year we visited a lot of customers in a trip to the Mid-West. It was a wonderful and joyful trip that let us visit a customer’s place of business and discuss their individual needs. We like this scenario very much. Maybe a trip to another part of the Country could be panned this year. Please let us now your opinions.

ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL YEAR

2018 proved to be the biggest shipment year to wineries all over the Country. This increase is to tonnage, number of wineries, and dollar volume. Even though shipments for home winemakers decreased, our total volume increased in all categories. 

Most grapes ripened later than normal during the 2018 season. We had cool weather in late August and most of September. Sugar levels actually went down for a few weeks or remained the same. This delayed sugar development but had a wonderful consequence-- the grapes developed beautiful flavors and colors. 

We kept pushing harvesting as maturity developed and were lucky to have picked most grapes before the rain in early October. There were some days that harvest lasted into early evening but it proved to be an excellent strategy. This allowed us to store “delicate” grapes without any difficulty and create efficient shipments with the later Cabernets. Cabernets were almost the only grapes we had to pick after the rain. We waited a week after the rain to harvest them and they proved to be outstanding. 

CONTINUITY A GREAT ADVANTAGE

As many of you have experienced this year, Ally is becoming the primary coordinator and communications person for the company. I could not be more pleased with this development. I could sense it in the attitude of the customers who now realize that the business has great future. We can grow together.  Thanks, Mike and Ally

August 2018

This week we are going to start harvesting grapes for the 2018 season. It will be a slow start with some Orange Muscats, Verdelho, and Chardonnay. The following week we will continue with some local (Lodi area) Pinot Noir and a few other black grapes. Old Vine Zinfandels harvest will probably commence on or about August 29-30. Sugars are moving about 2 points per week. The whole scenario (harvest) is at least a week later than last year.

One terrific quality that is starting to show up in this year's crop is the development of some potential excellent color in the grapes. The days are warm to hot, but the evenings are cool in Northern California. With the development of 2 brix points per week in the grapes, we have an ideal situation.

Chardonnay 

Last year we changed the source of our Chardonnay. We started picking a vineyard where the Chardonnay is thinned to a limited amount of bunches per vine. The vine was still grown with a good canopy. We ended up with sweet solid bunches with distinctive flavor and condition. We had such great success with the grapes that most wineries who bought the grapes last year doubled their order this year. Upon investigation this year, we found out they were Robert Young Clone and Doctor Olmo's Clone 4.

On the vine - 8-20-18

Handpicked- 8-22-18

Hand-packed - 8-22-18

The Known Unknown

As we mentioned in the last Newsletter, the known unknown this year was freight costs. Freight rates are always based on spot market conditions. If a lot of product needing refrigeration is going east from California, rates are higher. This can be usually weekly situation but it also can be daily fluctuation. At this time rates are about 25% higher than last year. One thing for sure, it is going to take at least another day to delivery of the fruit.

California Fires

There was a time during the last few weeks that it sounded and looked like the entire State was on fire.  Around most of our grape growing areas that was not the case. One must remember these fires are in mountainous forest areas where population is minimal. They did create haze on some days that gave one an ominous feeling but there was no smoke or ash in the vicinity of the grapes that we pick.

Orders

For the very first time we are on the way to receive orders from over 30 wineries from all over the country. With all the competition that there is in the industry from finished wine, juices and competitors here in California and from the Northwest, we consider our buyer base one of the strongest in the industry. Thank You!!!

July 2018

Hallelujah! Hallelujah!! We finally have our website back up again! It is redesigned and very mobile phone friendly. 

If you are in business, please make routine backups of your website and keep it safe. Hackers can easily corrupt code and destroy your website.

Crop Assessment

It is predicated that we will have a large crop probably approaching 4.25 million tons. If so, it will be a record. This estimate is projected by Allied Grape Growers. However, bunch count and observations in the vineyards show an average crop. The record crop will be due to recently planted vineyards coming in to production especially for Cabernet Sauvignon. The demand by the public for Cabernet Sauvignon wine would appear to be insatiable—there are some cracks starting to show in that appearance. Record prices for Napa and Sonoma Cabs appear to be softening a little but still at outlandish prices.

After visiting most of our vineyards, there is a general opinion that harvest will be later than last year, probably at least one week. This is good because last year we were very early with some varieties. We are currently having a heat wave, but it is cool in the evenings. Technically, it is ideal conditions for good grape quality. Veraison (color change) at this stage is very spotty and varies between vineyards. 

Sangiovese - Tracy Foothills 07-18-18

Currently, winery activity for those grapes that have no contract for the upcoming season is almost nonexistent. It probably represents less than 10% of the crop. This of course will change as the harvest approaches. Wineries are currently scrambling to empty tanks to make room for the new crop. 

Transportation Issues

Labor has been one of the biggest variables that affect pricing. It will also be a factor this year but transportation (freight) might be a bigger factor. Last year, shipping costs varied quite a bit during the season. An unofficial freight “no strike” period occurred during the middle of last season. Truckers were unofficially striking in response to the impending Electronic Logging Device (ELD) Federal requirements. This unofficial strike was a serious slowdown and drove freight rates higher than ever, as well as, increased shipping time. This spring refrigerated rates for 2018 were at times 50% higher than 2017. Those rates are now abating and hopefully will return to more acceptable levels. One thing for sure, with the ELDs now being used, deliveries will take longer.

Midwest Visit

My wife and I enjoyed our most recent trip to Illinois, Iowa and Michigan. It is such a pleasure to visit customers and getting a certain amount of pride in the wines they are making from our grapes. I have tasted some excellent wines and am convinced that Eastern winemakers are making better “California” wines than their counterparts in California. We thank everyone for their hospitality that we visited. Hopefully, we would like to do this in the future for different parts of the country. 

Orders

We are in the process of starting to contact wineries to see what their needs may be for the upcoming season.  We thank you, who have already placed their orders.  It makes our job a lot easier to get your orders in as soon as possible, but we know a lot of you have to assess your own crop before making a decision.