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6 WINES&VINES September 2016 A member of Wine Communications Group Inc. ADVERTISING Vice President and 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 East (except New York) Laura Lemos laura@boja.com (973) 822-9274 New York and International Dave Bayard dave@bayard.com (973) 822-9275 Advertising Manager April Kushner 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. 42 WINES& GRAPEGROWING California Crop Forecast: 4 Million Tons Allied Grape Growers president says tonnage will be up from 2015, shy of 2012-13 highs By Paul Franson CONNECT WITH US CONTRIBUTORS As a general partner of Canvas Ventures, Ben Narasin is a venture capitalist by day and a freelance writer focused on food, wine and finance by night and weekend. Based in Portola Valley, Calif., Narasin has been authoring the annual Wine Industry Finance Issue reports since the issue's inception in 2012. His newest contribution (page 32) features in-depth interviews with four lenders deeply involved with the wine industry, topped by his own analysis of what they had to say. James F. Harbertson, Ph.D., co-authored with Federico Casassa, Ph.D., the article on page 55 that describes a study about balancing tannin maturity and extraction by considering seed maturity, length of maceration and ethanol in Merlot wines. Harbertson's current research focuses on phenolic compounds found in grapes and wine and their biochemical and chemical changes during grape ripening, winemaking and aging. He is an associate editor for the Australian Journal of Grape and Wine Research and an active volunteer for the American Society for Enology and Viticulture. Grapevine leafroll disease, red blotch disease and other viruses are problems no grower wants to find in their vineyard. Yet too often in the past, vines came from the nursery already infected. In his article on page 62, Tim Martinson, senior extension associate at Cornell University, describes the progress in producing and distributing clean, virus-free vines to nurseries and vineyards. He also discusses work done in New York state to reinstate a grapevine certification program that will screen nursery increase blocks for viruses on a regular basis. WINESANDVINES.COM SEPTEMBER 2016 What the NGWI Does for You Lighter 2016 Harvest Predicted Balancing Tannin Maturity and Extraction RESOURCES FOR GROWTH Wine Industry Finance Issue ON THE COVER Graphic designer Rebecca Arnn snapped the cover image of new vines planted in a mesmerizing pattern at the vineyard adjacent to Sonoma, Calif.-based Viansa. Many vineyards and wineries are taking advantage of the favorable economy to invest in capital improvements such as new plantings and renovations. QUESTION FOR SEPTEMBER: How is your company addressing financial conditions? Shaun Everest VP of finance/administration Terrabella Wineries Summerland, B.C. We seem to be in a bit of a bubble here in British Columbia, and business is pretty good. One of our wineries (The Hatch) was just named one of the top 10 wineries in Canada by the National Wine Awards. So we're re-investing funds from operations in order to meet the demand and continue to grow our operations. Rachel Holman Chief executive officer Les Bourgeois Vineyards Rocheport, Mo. We recently expanded our tasting room to gain more direct-to-consumer business, and we've diversified our product offerings by getting into the distillation business. We've been looking at relationships with wholesalers and consider- ing whether it's always better to sell more wine in terms of the overall cost of sales. Jackie Egidio Finance director Ram's Gate Winery Sonoma, Calif. Given our focus on single- vineyard Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, we are searching for quality vineyard sources where we can grow our portfolio of wine offerings. From a financial perspective, we would like to grow alongside our membership, so scarcity of fruit sources will dramatically impact our ability to meet demand.