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JULY NEWS Headlines NEWS BYTES visitor center for Stag's Leap N apa Valley winery Stag's Leap Wine Cellars announced it broke ground on its new 6,000-square-foot visitors center, which will overlook the winery's estate vineyards. The planned center is expected to cost 2012 California Wine Grape Acreage Source Bearing Acres Nonbearing Acres Total Acres winesandvines.com Learn more: Search keyword "Stag's center." $7 million and State of California (reported) 460,000 20,000 480,000 has State of California (estimated) 508,000 38,000 546,000 signed by Barcelona-based architect Ja- Allied Grape Growers (estimated) 520,000 70,000 590,000 vier Barba. The winery is owned by Wash- N/A N/A 600,000 D partment of Pesticide Regulation e (via third party source) California Vineyard Acres Underreported Spokesman airs concern at Economics Seminar N 14 W in es & V i ne s J U LY 2 013 de- ington-based Ste. Michelle Wine estates Source: Allied Grapegrowers apa, Calif.—The Vineyard Economics Seminar held May 23 in Napa attracted an audience of 200 people eager to hear where the wine industry is headed. During a panel discussion Nat DiBuduo, president of Allied Grape Growers, which represents California growers in the Central Valley and coastal regions, focused on whether the state has too many or too few acres of grapevines planted, a question complicated by the record crop in 2012. He also pointed out that widely quoted figures about grapevine acreage aren't very accurate. Specifically, while the state reports 480,000 acres (20,000 nonbearing), those figures are volun- winesandvines.com tary, and DiBuduo Learn more: Search keywords commented that a "Underreported." large grower who controls 45,000 acres doesn't participate. Others don't either. Knowing this, the state estimates 546,000 acres, 38,000 of them nonbearing. DiBuduo pegs the number even higher—at 590,000 acres, with 70,000 nonbearing. He believes that the nonbearing acreage is very important. Assuming the industry needs to replant 5% per year just to maintain production since vines now typically have a 20-year lifespan, the reported 20,000 acres wouldn't be enough to maintain produc- been tion. If the figure is 70,000 acres, that would provide significant additional tonnage in a few years, particularly since newer vines tend to be more productive. That doesn't mean to stop planting, he added. "We don't think we're in oversupply, but plant wisely." Steve McIntyre, founder of Monterey Pacific on the Central Coast, said recent legal changes are making him reevaluate the use of labor contractors. "There used to be plenty of workers, and the contractors took care of legalities, but now we're ultimately responsible for checking legal status, workman's compensation and health care; plus there's a shortage of people. The advantage of contractors is slim to none," he said. He added that mechanization seems a natural solution. All of his new plantings are set up for machine pruning and mechanical harvesting from the start. The trellis system uses two wires: one for the irrigation tubing and one for the cordons. The pruners trim to a square or rectangular "box" extending the length of the row. "It's a radical change from vertical shoot positioning, but it requires much less labor," he said. He added that the vine balances itself in a few years. "The clusters are smaller and looser, but there's no leafing, pruning or positioning canes." —Paul Franson and Italian wine firm Marchesi Antinori. The two firms purchased Stag's Leap in 2007 for $187 million, pledging to revitalize the estate. Wine Science Center AGREEMENT T he agency charged with overseeing construction of the $23 million Wash- ington State University wine science center in Richland, Wash., picked Lydig Construction Inc. and ALSC Ar- winesandvines.com Learn more: Search keyword "Richland science." chitects to serve as the "design- build" team for the project. Design-build arrangements are intended to streamline a major construction project by setting one total price and bringing the owner, architect and builder under the same agreement. The University of California, Davis, used a similar arrangement to build its Robert Mondavi Institute. Cabrillo Revives Wine Program T wo years after state budget woes forced Cabrillo College to slash the popular wine-education classes from its curricu- lum, two entrylevel courses will return for fall se- winesandvines.com Learn more: Search keyword "Cabrillo revives." mester after California voters approved additional funding for state schools. The Aptos, Calif., college will offer "Sensory Evaluation of Wine Varietals" and "Wine and Wine Service."