Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/573907
October 2015 WINES&VINES 73 WINE EAST WINE INDUSTRY NEWS A ustin, Texas—At the end of May, the prospects for a great harvest in Texas this season were dubious. While no grapegrowers reported spring frosts across the state, torrential rains during Memorial Day week- end delivered as much as 13 inches of rain in 12 hours in the Texas Hill Country wine region west of Aus- tin, and other parts of Texas also experienced soaking rains. Bobby Cox, owner of Pheasant Ridge Winery in Lubbock, added, "Texas got more rain in May than in 2011 and 2012 and the first five months of 2013 combined." After that rain event, the weather in Texas moderated. Ed Hellman, professor of viticulture at Texas Tech University and the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, summarized the growing season: "Vineyards got started late....We haven't had a hot summer. There have been only two days of 100°- plus temperatures, and harvest will probably go into late September. "My expectation is that we could have the best harvest ever, as well as the largest." He noted that more than 2,000 acres of vineyard have been planted just in the High Plains region during the past five years, and many of those acres are coming into bear- ing this year. Harvest started July 28 for Bending Branch Winery in Com- fort, Texas. The Texas Hill Country winery brought in a small amount of Viognier that day, according to winemaker John Rivenburgh. "Brix levels have been at 21°-22°, pH at 3.6 and TA's around 6.0," he said of the white varieties. "I think we'll have a great sea- son for reds," Rivenburgh stated. "If growers have done good water management and have some pa- tience, we could have some of the best red fruit we've ever had." In the High Plains region, har- vest started somewhat later. Ac- cording to Hellman, harvest began the second week in August, starting with Muscat Blanc and Pinot Grigio, followed by Orange Muscat, Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc and Viognier. "In Texas, getting good Brix numbers isn't a challenge," he noted. "It's been a tough stretch....First there were droughts, then frosts in 2013 and 2014." —Linda Jones McKee After Downpour, Texas Growers Report Sunny Skies for Harvest miwinebarrel.com Stainless Steel & Oak Wine Barrels... Midwest, East Coast, Great Lakes, Canada... miwinebarrel 734.398.2028 We now also provide... Custom Stainless Steel Tanks! will have low yields, while the crop on Concord and Niagara vineyards is variable and ranges from a low of 3 tons per acre to as high as 9 tons per acre, depending on the vineyard location. In the Thousand Islands region, cold-climate variet- ies such as Marquette came through the winter in reasonable condition, but site selection has proved to be highly important, especially in sur- viving late spring frosts. Walter-Peterson furnished the list of prices paid for grapes in the Finger Lakes region for the 2015 harvest (see table on page 72). New York state wineries that purchase more than 5 tons of any grape va- riety are required to publish the prices they will pay for grapes. Some of the prices reported are prices wineries pay for their own grapes, while others are contracted prices between growers and winer- ies. The entire list of 60 varieties is posted at winesandvines.com. Prices on 19 varieties did go up, while 25 were flat (the average price was within 0.5% of the price in 2013), and 16 went down. Partly because of reduced yields on the vinifera grapes, some of the more popular varieties are up in average price over last year. For the second year in a row, the New York cold-climate variety Valvin Muscat rose more than other grapes. In 2014 Valvin Mus- cat saw an increase of 5.4%, and in 2015 it rose by 10.8% to $880. Seyval, after decreasing in price in 2014 by 5%, went up this year by 5.6% (an increase from $578 to $610 per ton). Of the nine native American varieties, only two increased in price over last year. —Linda Jones McKee