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W i n e s & V i n e s M A R C H 2 0 1 4 15 Record California Wine Grape Harvest sAN rAFAEL, CALIF.—California followed up the bumper harvest of 2012 with an even larger one in 2013. At 4.23 million tons, the state's total yield was higher than analysts expected. According to the preliminary grape crush report released Feb. 10 by the USDA National Agricul- tural Statistics Service, Califor- nia growers produced 2.41 million tons of red wine grapes and 1.83 million tons of white wine grapes. Red wine grape production was up 5%, and the white wine grape harvest came in 6% higher than in 2012. The state's entire grape har- vest, which includes table and rai- sin grapes, was expected to total 4.69 million tons—7% more than in 2012. Chardonnay continued to ac- count for the largest share of the state's harvest at 16%, followed by Cabernet Sauvignon at 11%. Total Pinot Noir production grew by 3% to 256,974 tons, and the variety now accounts for 6% of the state's total production. The average price of all wine grapes was $745 per ton, with the average for red wine grapes up 4% to $842 and the average for white wine grapes down less than 1% to $620 per ton. Napa County, or grape Dis- trict 4, earned the highest aver- age price for all grapes at $3,691 per ton, followed by Sonoma County in District 3, which had an average of $2,249. The average price for Cabernet Sauvignon grapes in District 4 was $5,499 per ton, which was an 8.7% increase over the 2012 aver- age price of $5,060. The average price for Cabernet in District 3 was $2,501 per ton in 2013 and $2,314 in 2012, an increase of 9.3%. Pinot Noir fetched an aver- age of $3,118 per ton in District 3, an increase of 9.7% over the 2012 average of $3,015 per ton. Wineries crushed 65,757 tons of Cabernet Sauvignon grapes from District 4, while District 3 wineries crushed 54,141 tons of Pinot Noir. —ANDrEW ADAMs other top stories Direct-to-consumer (DtC) ship- ments grew 7.5% to $1.57 billion in 2013, and that total value is expected to double with- in 10 years. The total volume of 9-liter case shipments grew by 9.3% to reach 3.47 million cases, and leading the growth in shipments were wineries in So- noma County, Calif., and Oregon. Lawmakers in New York state are debating a bill that would require all alcoholic beverages to be warehoused in the state for at least 48 hours before being shipped to retailers. Proponents say the law would protect ware- house jobs from New Jersey com- petitors. Opponents counter the bill will raise retail prices and put small distributors out of business. The red blotch virus and associ- ated disease continues to be the subject of deep concerns. Growers packed a session on the virus at the recent Unified Wine & Grape Symposium, where they heard from experts who said the condition can hamper ripening and undermine vineyard revenue potential. North America is home to 8,391 wineries, according to data from Wines & Vines. The 4.3% growth in the total num- ber of wineries comes with a 6.3% increase in total case pro- duction; winery average bottle price rose from $9 to $10.85. California is still home to the most wineries: 3,674, or 44%. Washington state university received a $250,000 donation from the Mercer Canyons com- pany and Mercer family for the construction of the Wine Sci- ence Center, which is expected to be finished sometime this fall. LATEsT NEWs More detail on the news at: winesandvines.com New Farm Bill Adds Support for Grapes, Wine WAsHINgToN, D.C.—Grapegrowing research and other programs to support the wine industry will receive increased funding from the Agricultural Act of 2014 (com- monly known as the Farm Bill), signed Feb. 7 after four years of debate. The mammoth $956 bil- lion act sets funding for five years for a broad sweep of agricultural interests including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance (food stamp) Program, which it cut by $8 billion over the next decade. This Farm Bill represents an increase in investment of 55% over the 2008 Farm Bill in specialty crop initiatives and programs including the State Block Grant Program, Specialty Research Initiative, a pest and disease-prevention program along with maintaining funding for the Market Access Program, accord- ing to WineAmerica. The Specialty Crop Research Initiative will get $80 mil- lion per year through fiscal year 2018. The Specialty Crop Grant Program is set to receive $72.5 million per year through 2017 and then reach $85 million in 2018. Pest and disease funding will receive $62.5 million per year and $75 million in 2018, with a mini- mum of $5 million dedicated to the National Clean Plant Network. "The funding levels were all at what we recommended to the legis- lators, and that's going to give us five years of the research we need," said WineAmerica executive direc- tor Mark Chandler. The Farm Bill also funds the Ani- mal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) that protects vine- yards from plant pests and disease threats such as Pierce's disease and European grapevine moth. Among its many provisions, the bill also expanded crop insurance for farmers by $7 billion over a decade. —ANDrEW ADAMs grape Prices Paid in 2013 Year District 3 District 4 District 8 District 11 Cabernet sauvignon 2013 2012 $2,501 $2,314 $5,499 $5,060 $1,377 $1,296 $709 $727 Pinot Noir 2013 2012 $3,118 $3,015 $2,450 $2,469 $2,594 $2,578 $665 $659 Merlot 2013 2012 $1,614 $1,497 $2,792 $2,649 $1,039 $1,085 $541 $588 Zinfandel 2013 2012 $2,499 $2,420 $3,145 $3,030 $1,265 $1,342 $710 $818 Chardonnay 2013 2012 $1,940 $1,894 $2,474 $2,354 $1,241 $1,303 $543 $559 French Colombard 2013 2012 $629 $545 — $1,388 — — $348 $385 The Grape Crush Report cites District 3 as Sonoma and Marin counties, District 4 as Napa, District 8 as San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties and District 11 as San Joaquin County north of State Highway 4 and Sacramento County south of U.S. 50 and east of Interstate 5. Farm Bill Costs 2014-23 n Food stamps and nutrition $756B n Crop insurance $89.8B n Conservation $56B n Commodity programs $44.4B n Everything else $8.2B M A R C H N E W S