With a deeper look into the grape crush report, certain themes emerge that are in line with what we’re seeing in the bulk wine and grape market as well as what we’re reading and hearing about in case good sales. Certain varietals stand out as being longer than others, with both Muscat and Chardonnay posting strong numbers again in 2013.  Muscat Alexander jumps off of the page, with year over year volume growth of 60%. The additional California Muscat production could prove to be problematic, as its growth coincides with already existing international Moscato inventories and an overall softening of Moscato demand at the retail level.

Analysis on pricing reveals that it was almost uniformly down in the Central Valley (see pricing for Districts #11 - #14, and #17), while pricing was uniformly up in all Coastal appellations (see districts #1- #8).  This parallels what has been going on in each category, as lower cost wines from the Central Valley have been struggling due to higher cost of goods coming off the short 2010 and 2011 harvests.

In the end, the quality of the 2013 vintage should be pleasing to both winemaker and consumer and the quantity in the Central Valley should help in the short term to keep imports for certain varietals at bay.

What the future holds regarding the expectations for the 2014 crop will certainly make for a dynamic market after coming off two back to back record harvests.

Read the full report