Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/670981
May 2016 WINES&VINES 19 WINE INDUSTRY NEWS P aso Robles, Calif.—Grapegrowers at- tending the WiVi 2016 Central Coast conference at the Paso Robles Event Center this spring were hoping for some good news after experiencing the worst harvest in memory in 2015. Yields in many Central Coast vineyards dropped 50% below average due to a combination of extreme weather and accu- mulated drought conditions. "About the only good thing I can say about 2015 is that it's over," said Lowell Zelinski, owner of Precision Ag Consulting. As he re- viewed the troubled vintage, Zelinski expressed concern that last year's bad weather might even have a negative effect on this year's crop, since the buds for 2016 were formed in early 2015. One grower in the room said he recently had dissected sample buds before they broke to check on their health and found 75% to 80% fruitful buds inside. Zelinski said that 80% was a good number, but he remained concerned about the prospects. Zelinski ticked off reasons for the disaster: • Salt accumulation in the root zone from four years of drought • Primary bud necrosis (failure) from poor conditions at flowering • Trunk and cordon diseases seemed to spread • Vine mealybug pressure worsened, while Pacific mite pressure eased a little • Hail damage in mid-June • High powdery mildew pressure, especially in the Templeton Gap • A heavy rainstorm in July that totaled 2.71 inches in one day in Templeton and encour- aged Botrytis bunch rot • The wrong trellis system in some vineyards. California crop reporting districts 7 and 8, which cover most of the Central Coast, crushed 30% to 40% fewer tons of wine grapes in 2015 than in 2014. Numerous growers in California's San Luis Obispo and Monterey counties saw yields in the 1 ton per acre range. Zelinski also shared his theory about what specifically happened or failed to happen dur- ing bloom. In some cases, the flower caps stuck on and prevented pollination, but in other cases the pollen landed where it should on the flower, but vines failed to successfully grow tubes that reach down into the flower to com- plete fertilization. He said the air temperature needs to be at least 80° F for the best pollen development, yet very few days in the Paso Robles area were hot enough during the 2015 bloom period. "That's why the bloom seemed to last forever. We didn't have many warm days when we needed them." —Jim Gordon Post-Mortem on a Disastrous 2015 Central Coast Harvest WINE GRAPE TONS CRUSHED 2014 2015 Change District 7 Red 147,441.0 87,651.0 -41% White 171,049.8 110,633.3 -35% Total 318,490.8 191,284.3 -40% District 8 Red 146,750.1 103,998.4 -29% White 66,337.1 46,129.0 -30% Total 213,159.4 150,117.4 -30% All figures in tons. Source: USDA