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EDITOR���S LETTER Large Crop Was Timed Just Right Grape Crush Report verifies the overall abundance of 2012 T alk about your manna from heaven. California���s grapegrowers got their prayers answered and then some during last fall���s harvest. As you know by now, the winegrape crush of 2102 turned out bigger than even the smartest prognosticators had estimated. This bumper crop of more than 4 million tons couldn���t have come at a better time for wineries or for growers. A lot of talk at the Unified Wine & Grape Symposium in late January centered on supply and demand, as it does every year. Speakers at the excellent State of the Industry session on the first full day of the Unified delved deeply into this subject, but they were at a disadvantage: They didn���t know yet what the California Preliminary Grape Crush Report would say. The USDA published it just before we went to print with this issue, and I���d like to discuss here what the report and the industry experts had to say. To me, the bottom line is that the average grower earned 45% more from his or her crop in 2012! Let���s look at the overall abundance that wineries crushed in 2012: ��� ,014,000 tons of winegrapes, a 4 20% increase in tonnage over 2011 ��� % higher yields than the former 7 record harvest of 2005 ��� 769 per ton statewide average $ in 2012 ��� 1% higher price per ton than 2 2011���and 32% over 2005. planted, then higher grape prices and the inevitable higher bottle prices may slow sales. The wine industry will continue to face the everyday pressures of wine production and indecisive and fickle consumers, according to DiBuduo. More data points to ponder from the Preliminary Grape Crush Report, on specific varieties in 2012: ��� 176,000 more tons of Chardonnay and 112,000 more tons of Cabernet Sauvignon were crushed than in 2011 ��� Muscat varieties totaled 177,000 tons, up more than 25,000 tons ��� onnage of Pinot Noir grew by 45% T ��� Malbec more than doubled to 18,000 tons ��� Nero d���Avola, a promising Italian variety, grew to 140 tons. Matching the market These trends all match what���s happening in the market. Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon sales continue to grow from very large bases. Muscat and Moscato wines have become wildly popular���so much so that wineries had to buy Muscat in bulk from South America and Europe to meet demand. Soon, California plantings may catch up to the demand. Pinot Noir continues to grow rapidly with consumers as the first real mass brands are selling well. Malbec from Argentina has been growing like crazy in off-premise sales, so why wouldn���t California wineries start to compete? The Sicilian red variety Nero d���Avola is an example of the exciting opportunities for grapes that are popular in hot climates in Europe to be grown in some of California���s hot regions���even if they have little or no following by varietal name. One thing that neither the Grape Crush Report nor the industry analysts can tell us, however, is what will happen in 2013. It���s a good thought to end on as our staff wraps up this Vineyard Equipment & Technology Issue for March. The scenario for this year���s harvest is up to you and nature. Only time will tell. The average winegrape grower earned 45% more from his or her crop in 2012! More tons, more dollars Let���s say your vineyard is 30 acres, and after getting the average price for 120 tons in 2011, you collected $76,440. But in 2012 you had 20% higher yields, or 144 tons. At the higher average price, you earned $110,736 in 2012, or 45% more. That���s the difference a year made. It was excellent news for growers, but if the record 2005 crop started a surplus cycle that dampened grape prices, why won���t that happen this time? ���The large 2012 crop was a blessing, not a curse,��� Allied Grape Growers president Nat DiBuduo said at the Unified. It came after a much smaller harvest in 2011 (when California wineries imported about 575,000 tons��� worth of bulk wine), and consumer demand for California wine has continued to grow. ���Today we are still experiencing good demand with moderate expansion,��� he said. The argument for the possibility of a new surplus developing rests partly on the question of consumer preference: Will they buy more of the under-$10 wines that come from the new acreage that is largely in the interior valley? On the other hand, if too little is 8 W in es & V i ne s M AR C H 2 0 13 Eastern Winery Exposition Wines & Vines publisher Chet Klingensmith and I will attend the Eastern Winery Exposition, of which our company is the key sponsor, March 5-7. We both had a great time at the inaugural event last year, and tasted some excellent wines that were new to us while enjoying the historic ambience of Lancaster, Pa. We look forward to meeting more East Coast winemakers and grapegrowers this year.