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8 WINES&VINES January 2016 A member of Wine Communications Group Inc. ADVERTISING Vice President & Director of Sales Jacques Brix jbrix@winesandvines.com (707) 473-0244 West Lydia Hall lydia@winesandvines.com (415) 453-9700, ext. 103 Midwest Hooper Jones hooperhja@aol.com (847) 486-1021 Northeast Marsha Tabb marshatabb@comcast.net (215) 794-3442 East Laura Lemos laura@boja.com (973) 822-9274 International Dave Bayard dave@bayard.com (973) 822-9275 Advertising Manager Christina Ballinger ads@winesandvines.com DIGITAL EDITION All print subscribers now get digital access to Wines & Vines. You can: • DOWNLOAD pages or full issues • BROWSE current and archived issues • WATCH videos • ACCESS via desktop, tablet or smartphone • SEARCH by keyword or table of contents • NAVIGATE by topic or page thumbnail • QUESTIONS? Contact customer ser- vice at custserv@winesandvines.com or (866) 453-9701 Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. PDT. CONNECT WITH US CONTRIBUTORS Paul Franson has been covering the wine industry as a journalist for almost 20 years, but prior to that he was a communicator in the high tech/electronics industry. His story about solar power in this issue ("Winery Solar Savings Threatened," page 110) draws from elements of both specialties to review new ways wineries are using solar, and to gauge the likelihood that politics will raise the cost of new instal lations. Kevin Fort and Andrew Walker researched and wrote the article about droughtresistant rootstocks on page 102. Fort is a postdoctor al researcher at the University of California, Davis, where he studies salinity tolerance and drought resistance in grapevine rootstocks in the Walker lab. He has studied salinity and drought in wildland plants from Mono Lake and Owens Valley. Walker is a professor of viticulture at UC Davis as well as a grape breeder and geneticist. His work focuses on developing new rootstocks and diseaseresistant wine grape varieties. If you live in a place with a lessthanperfect grapegrowing climate, what do you do to maximize your wine's aromas and improve other sensory properties? Andrew Reynolds, professor of viticulture at Brock University in Ontario, compares two vineyard practices that might help: reducing the crop level to increase Brix and consequently raise ethanol, and delaying harvest date by three to six weeks. The results of his research, with a lot of specific data about chemical and sensory results, begin on page 159. ON THE COVER George Rose captured this month's cover image at Sonoma County's annual Pruning Championship, where nearly 50 expert pruners competed to see who could work the fastest and achieve the best results. This month's issue is full of stories to help vineyard and winery staff with efficiency and quality. QUESTION FOR JANUARY: How will supply and demand change in 2016? Glenn Proctor Partner The Ciatti Co. San Rafael, Calif. The market can act as a "teeter totter" with the dynamics of one side of the supply/ demand chain affecting the other. We believe that the market will adjust to current conditions, and that buyers are going back to being buyers and sellers being sellers. Lynn Fritz Proprietor and CEO Lynmar Estate Sebastopol, Calif. I can only speak for the Cali- fornia ultra-premium segments of the market. With smaller vin- tages in 2014—and particularly in 2015—together with increas- ing demand, the prices will be increasing in 2016 and even more so in 2017, when the 2015 vintage enters the marketplace. Mike Veseth Editor The Wine Economist Tacoma, Wash. From a global market perspec- tive, the main theme I see is uncertainty. If I had to bet on a trend, it would be increased penetration of the U.S. market by imports. Look for more globally sourced brands to take advantage of rising quality and lower cost abroad. Potential winners: Italy (Prosecco), South Africa and long-shot Argentina.