FROST DAMAGE
On the morning of Tuesday April 12, 2022, temperatures dipped below freezing a few days after reaching 90°F in some places. The areas that seem to be seriously damaged are the Delta, Thornton, Sloughhouse, Clarksburg up off of Grant Line Road, and across the east side of Lodi that includes Clements and lower areas of the foothills and Amador County. There is some damage in Linden and Farmington. After almost a month, we are still hearing of some areas affected. Just last week, we heard that some vines in Livermore Valley were affected, especially Chardonnay. This frost was not generally predicted and if it was just a few degrees colder, the entire 2022 grape crop around the State could have been ruined.
This last week we tried to visit most of the vineyards from which we harvested grapes over the last few years. We were reassured by the report that most vineyards in the Lodi/Mokelumne River area were spared. Our main source in Amador County said he had no damage and we are not hearing any damage in our Coastal sources.
In visiting the unaffected vineyards, there appears to be a very good bunch count and size on all varieties. Don’t get us wrong, we still have a long way to go, especially weather at bloom time. But it is nice to see the forming bunches.
PRICING
In almost all Districts, there are not many grapes that are not under contract. The crop for 2021 turned out to be the 3.6 million tons that was estimated. With the second short crop in a row, most people expected wineries to significantly increase their prices. This has not occurred. A couple of major wineries did not try to buy more grapes. So far we are seeing prices rising only from $25/ton to $100/ton depending upon the variety. Maybe when accurate losses are assessed from the frost, things could change but we have locked up a lot of tonnage. There are some smaller wineries eagerly picking up grapes at much higher prices. We are not sure what is happening with prices in Coastal areas.
FREIGHT
The scariest aspect for the upcoming season is the prospect for another dramatic increase in transportation costs. Last year trips to the East Coast increased $5000 to $6000 over 2020 costs. This year there is currently an increase in refrigeration transportation costs of about $8000 over 2021. Let us hope that fuel prices will drop in the next four months and other factors help bring freight costs. Transportation plays a significant part in almost everything influencing our current inflation numbers.
DROUGHT
February and March 2022 proved to be the driest months ever recorded. The drought restrictions reached a point that any new well drilling is prohibited. With no water available from any irrigation districts, any new land development will be almost impossible.
