The California Department of Food and Agriculture’s preliminary 2023 grape crush figure, published February 9th, totalled 3,668,294 tons, in line with Ciatti’s pre-harvest projections of 3.5-3.7 million tons. The crop was 8% larger than 2022’s 3.39 million tons but the fifth consecutive crop to come in below the 4-million-ton mark. At least part of the shortfall was attributable to uncontracted grapes going unpicked: Many wineries were willing to receive grapes only to the contracted volumes and then held growers to that number.  Chardonnay’s total tonnage was up 24.1% versus 2022 to 651,610 tons, re-taking the crown as the state’s largest variety which it briefly lost in 2022 to Cabernet (itself up, by 14.1% to 646,941 tons). Versus 2022, some 66,000 extra Chardonay tons were harvested in Lodi and Clarksburg combined. Sauvignon Blanc experienced the same percentage growth as Chardonnay, up 24.1% to 162,765 tons, while Pinot Gris tonnage was up 19.1%

Lost Sierra Wine Co. Brings Great Wine to the Great Outdoors

Family of fine wine & hospitality veterans crafts wine for the wilderness lovers SANTA ROSA, CA, January 23, 2024: Lost Sierra Wine Co. announced the inaugural release of its outdoor-inspired […]

Afternoon Brief, January 22nd

Bomb Blows Up French Wine War: A dispute between French producers and importers of Spanish wine is getting darker, with violence returning to the south of France...

April brought some welcome rainfall to California’s Coastal growing areas: Up to five inches fell in some locations but, in most, rainfall was sufficient enough to get things looking nice and green but not enough to meaningfully replenish water reserves. Indeed, we are hearing that water usage curtailments in some Coastal areas will start in May, and allocations for the federal Central Valley water management project could be at 0%.  Given the ongoing drought conditions, tentative early expectations are for a 2022 crop shorter than average, though we have been seeing – and receiving reports of – healthy-looking vineyards with good cluster counts and sizes. The picture will be a lot clearer in June once veraison is underway. The Central Coast and Central Valley are slightly behind last year in terms of degree day accumulation, a reflection of the forecasted cooler-than-normal spring.  The early morning hours of April 12th brought a frost episode that had a pa