Each year brings different concerns, problems and surprises for
San Benito County wine grape growers, but the 2006 crop promises
quality wines down the road.
Each year brings different concerns, problems and surprises for San Benito County wine grape growers, but the 2006 crop promises quality wines down the road.
Depending on the variety of grape and location of the vineyard, the harvest typically runs from late August through the end of October or early November. But a late cool spring and recent cool weather have made for a late harvest, said Josh Jensen, owner and founder of Calera Wine Company. For Jensen, the weather is a positive, but for winemaker Alessio Carli of Pietra Santa Vineyards and Winery, the weather is cause for concern.
“I’ve never experienced (this) in 16 years – I start the harvest and then I stop,” Carli said.
Although it has not made for the latest harvest, the cool fall weather has made for a “stretch harvest,” creating an extended growing season, Carli said. Carli has stopped Pietra Santa’s harvest twice because the grapes were not mature enough, which has never happened in his experience, he said.
Jensen grows pinot noir grapes in the high cool hills of Mount Harlan. The cool weather has been beneficial to Calera’s pinot noir grapes.
Carli relies on warm weather to mature Pietra Santa’s grapes sooner. But he is not worried about the quality of the 300 tons of grapes Pietra Santa is harvesting.
“I’m still very happy with the quality,” Carli said.
The chardonnay Pietra Santa harvests now will be ready for release in 2007. The reds Pietra Santa harvests will be ready for release in 18 months – in 2008.
Frank Leal of Leal Vineyards said the quantity of the 2006 harvest is down, but that the quality was not affected by the late spring rain and summer heat waves. Leal begins the harvest in late October.
“The difference this year is the stress on the plants,” Leal said. “They’re tired this year.”
Grapes harvested by Leal now will make it to store shelves in 2008.
In 2005 San Benito County saw the largest tonnage harvested on record due to wet weather early in the year and ideal conditions for fruiting.
Blossom Hill Winery in Paicines had never before seen the volume it did in 2005, winemaker Carol Thorup said. The winery is the largest in the county for volume and therefore brings in the largest tonnage.
Blossom Hill markets most of its wines to the United Kingdom and relies on quantity to drive business. Blossom Hill has seen a drop in grape quantity from 2005, Thorup said. However, Blossom Hill’s San Benito vineyards have been yielding fine reds.
“Our own San Benito County vineyards are turning out to be real stars this year,” Thorup said.
Thorup said the winery has not been able to find a rhythm, starting and stopping this year’s harvest several times like Pietra Santa. Blossom Hill has had rot and mold issues with recent wet weather, and although it has yet to happen, Thorup is concerned with capacity as the winery may have a heavy and fast harvest finish.
Calera, however, has had capacity issues, sending some of its pinot noir crop under its Central Coast label to custom crush wineries in King City and Greenville to undergo fermentation. The 2006 harvest has kept Calera’s three large fermentors full.
“We’re all really delighted because we have a commercially viable crop level,” Jensen said.
The release dates of Calera’s wines range from one to four years and depend on the quality of the wine Jensen is attempting to achieve. The grapes harvested in 2006 for Calera’s Central Coast Pinot Noir will be bottled and released in 2007. Grapes harvested in 2006 for Calera’s Mt. Harlan Cuvee Pinot Noir will be released in 2010.
The sugar content in Calera’s harvest will not be as high, creating a more balanced wine in terms of sugars and acidity, Jensen said. It also creates less alcoholic wines – going against many of the highly alcoholic wines that have dominated the wine industry recently.
“That’s been the general overall trend in California over the past few years,” Jensen said.
Al DeRose, co-owner of DeRose Vineyards, said DeRose’s grape crop is above average in quality. DeRose drops much of its grape crop to keep quality high so there will not be a difference in quantity, DeRose said. DeRose only harvests three-quarters of a ton per acre of its zinfandel grape, well below the county average of 4.58 tons per acre in 2005.
“The concern now is if the weather goes downhill,” Jensen said.
The late harvest is keeping grapes on the vine longer than vintners would like. If early and consistent rains hit San Benito County some vineyards could experience mold and rot, Jensen said. DeRose expressed similar concerns. The mature grapes’ high sugar content and thin skins offer the perfect environment for invading molds and rot, Jensen said. But growers remain calm.
“We still have a chance to make a great harvest,” Carli said.
Even with weather concerns throughout the growing and harvest season, California grape growers’ use of technology and growing techniques can save a vintage.
“There’s just a lot of weapons in today’s viticulture,” Leal said.
San Benito County’s wine grape crop places a premium on quality, not quantity.
In 2005 neighboring Monterey County generated almost as much value in its grape crop alone at $254.6 million as San Benito County did in its entire agricultural crop at $268.8 million. However, San Benito harvests fewer grapes per acre because of quality-ensuring techniques such as bunch thinning. In 2005 San Benito also demanded more value per unit than did Monterey at $1,118 per unit versus $948 per unit.
County agricultural commission officials will not know the total numbers of tonnage and value until the harvest is complete, but with the exception of 2002, the county has seen increased tonnage numbers each of the past five years. In 2005 wine grapes moved past bell peppers to become the county’s fourth most valuable crop, bringing in $19.9 million.
But even if tonnage numbers are down slightly, growers are excited about quality of the 2006 harvest.
“We’re really delighted because it’s a really healthy and large crop,” Jensen said.
Michael Van Cassell covers public safety for the Free Lance. He can be reached at 831-637-5566 ext. 335, or [email protected].
