Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/764739
w w w. v w m m e d i a . c o m J a n - F e b 2 017 | V I N E YA R D & W I N E RY M A N A G E M E N T 3 5 didn't have frost, so we didn't use water except for the early varieties like Chardonnay. It was a moder- ate summer, with some little heat spikes but not real hot. It was a good, early ripening and a long fall. The quality should be excellent." Harvest rains arrived in Lodi after roughly 90% of the fruit was already harvested. "This is fairly accurate for the North Coast as well," says Ledbetter. "Vino Farms was done picking in both locations prior to rain on October 15 and 16." In Paso Robles, it was a short, compressed harvest at Tablas Creek Vineyard, where partner and gen- eral manager Jason Haas says, "We had five consecutive weeks where we harvested 75 tons or more, which is really unusual for us." The vineyard's average is normally 40 to 50 tons per week, but Haas reports averages of 75 to 99 tons. "Then bang! We were done. There was no tail off at the end," he says. Rous- sanne and Mourvedre are usually the final grapes to harvest, "but this year, in our last week, we had six different grapes come in [including] Tannat, Counoise, Grenache and Cabernet," says Haas. A pet project at Tablas Creek came to fruition this year with a unique Rhone blending grape. "We got California's first-ever harvest of Picardan off a half-acre block," says Haas. "It's one of the grapes that's allowed in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, but it's barely planted anywhere. We only found records of one acre of it in France, so the half-acre we planted increased the world's popu- lation by 50%." Conversely, harvest was long and drawn out in Temecula Valley. It started rapidly but had normal lulls that extended the harvest past expectations. Earlier in the grow- ing season, a major heatwave the weekend of June 10 to 12 caused major damage, according to Drake Enterprises Farm Management Director of Operations J.D. Har- key. "The heatwave struck prior to veraison, so the clusters were at a vulnerable state and it took its toll on the vines," he says. Vineyards with light canopies saw the most damage due to limited protection and shading in the fruit region of the vines. Initial damage estimates ranged from 10% to 40%, but more dam- age became apparent in subse- quent weeks. Some vineyards were damaged by 50% to 60%. The red varieties that took the big- gest hit were Barbera, Sangiovese and Syrah, but one Cabernet Sau- vignon vineyard was damaged at more than 70%. Muscat was the lone white variety that suffered, w h i l e C h a r d o n n a y, S a u v i g n o n Blanc, Pinot Gris and Vermentino were surprisingly unharmed. In Monterey, it was a challeng- ing year for powdery mildew. And mildew was a concern in San Joa- quin Valley as well. "There's been continually strong mildew pressure the last several years, and mealy- bug was more problematic this year than ever before," states Val- lis. Vine mealybug is also increas- ing in Temecula. Growers in Paso Robles contended with leafhop- pers, but they didn't get really bad until two-thirds through harvest and didn't impact the fruit. Average yields were reported throughout the state, and the Cali- fornia Department of Agriculture estimated the crop will be near the historical average of 3.9 million tons. Yields increased in Napa Val- ley over 2015. "Everything is site- specific, depending on if you're on the valley floor or in the mountain ranges," explains Brittany Peder- son, viticulturist at Silverado Farm- ing Company. "But for the most part, yields have been up from last year, which was a low-yielding year. We're back up to average." In Lodi, crop yields were up 10% to 20% over 2015 and about 5% above average. Above-average yields in the Livermore Valley helped make up for shortfalls in 2015, which Mirassou estimates to be 40% high- er than 2015 in his estate vineyards. But it was more of a mixed bag for Merrilees, who discloses, California's first-ever harvest of Picardan at Tablas Creek Vineyard Harvest 2016