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January 2016 WINES&VINES 89 VINTAGE 2015 Y ields varied wildly throughout the central United States because of winter damage, rain during harvest and other factors. Texas received some relief from its long drought with rains that didn't compromise grape quality. In Michigan, however, a spring frost followed by summer hail resulted in one of the smallest wine grape harvests in decades. ARIZONA Michael Pierce Director of enology Yavapai College Overall good quality prevailed in 2015. Lower than average yields were common due to some spring frost damage. Good acids and early ripening sugar levels. Whites were showing the strongest for the vintage so far. It was a warm winter followed by some late spring frost damage. Warm growing season with later than average monsoon rains. Early picking across the board of about three to five days earlier than previous years. Bird and wasp damage hit us hard at our northern Arizona site. Fruit was clean of rot with the exception of Sangiovese, which had been wrung through some late monsoon storms. Prices have jumped in the state, and $2,500 per ton is not uncom- mon for quality fruit. There is more availability in general. INDIANA Bruce Bordelon Professor Purdue University 2015 was a rebuilding year for cen- tral and northern Indiana growers following the disastrous winter of 2014. Many vines were retrained from the ground, so yields were relatively low this year. Southern Indiana growers largely escaped the damage of 2014 and had full crops this year. Quality was excel- lent due to favorable weather con- ditions from véraison to harvest. Record rainfall in May and June made disease management very difficult. A very dry July through September with warm days and cool nights led to excellent fruit quality. Black rot was prevalent this year, especially where growers could not maintain adequate fungi- cide coverage. Anthracnose was also more prevalent than normal. Downy mildew showed up in July, earlier than normal, and growers had to keep up their spray pro- grams to maintain healthy foliage. Grape prices continue to be rela- tively high, about $1,000 per ton for most varieties and more for pre- mium varieties, late harvest, etc. One of the largest growers in the state purchased mechanical har- vesting and fruit-sorting equip- ment. They are very happy with the impact on wine quality, ease of op- eration of the equipment, winery scheduling, etc. The major reason for moving to mechanical harvest- ing was labor shortage. Labor shortage is always a con- cern for the industry. There is a lack of available labor for vineyard work and few well-trained workers for wineries. There is a shortage of professional crop consultants for vineyards. The severe winter of 2014 killed many popular varieties to the ground, requiring retraining or re- planting. That has many in the in- dustry wondering if they should replant those vines and risk future damage, or switch to some of the "super cold hardy" varieties from Minnesota and private breeding programs. IOWA Michael White Viticulture specialist Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Excessive amounts of rainfall in the southern half of Iowa greatly diminished the size and quality of the wine grape crop. The inability GRAPE QUALITY CENTRAL How would you characterize the average quality of the 2015 harvest based on the grapes you grew, purchased or received? A student racks barrels at Yavapai College's teaching winery in Arizona. Good Excellent Normal CENTRAL