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Headlines O Valley Fruit Wanted J ANU AR Y NEWS NA VIGA TION NEWS BY TE S EARLY ICE WINE HARVEST ne of the most delayed grape har- vests in memory has been followed Optimistic news for San Joaquin growers F resno, Calif. —Steady growth in sales of value-priced wines are a positive sign for Central Valley winegrape growers, who are also encouraged to increase planted acreage with key grape varieties to meet projected demand for the next 20 years. Industry experts brought the welcome message to the San Joaquin Valley Wine & Grape Industry Forum presented by the San Joaquin Valley Winegrow- ers Association. David Kent, CEO for San Francisco-based The Wine Group, which purchas- es 25% of the grape production from the South- ern San Joaquin Valley, discussed wine market and vari- etal trends for consumer age groups by generation. TWG is the second-largest wine producer in the United States and the world's third-largest producer by volume, with annual sales of nearly 60 million cases and predicted 2010 export sales of 10 million cases. Kent, who is also the 2010-11 first vice chairman of The Wine Institute, cited cur- rent economic factors influencing the mar- ket for value-priced wines. Since the reces- sion, 37% of baby boomers are now in a job that pays less than what they previ- ously made. Generation X is the first gen- eration in U.S. history to earn less than the previous generation. Kent offered advice for grapegrowers: 1. Grow what consumers drink. "You have to get realistic. Growers and wineries 14 Wines & Vines JAnUARY 2011 don't have the resources (advertising dol- lars) to convince consumers to drink what they have," he observed. 2. Outrun the other campers. Reduce David Kent, CEO of The Wine Group, encour- aged growers to plant Moscato and Malbec. costs and improve yields to ensure your market price is sustainable. "As hard as it is to do business in California, we have a good, strong do- mestic market. I think you can have high quality and good yields with balanced vine growth," he said. 3. Enjoy the home-field ad- vantage. Fees for duty plus freight plus bulk proces- sor margins will dissuade wineries from looking else- where if you grow what the market demands. Jeff Bitter, VP of operations for Allied Grape Growers, a 600-member state grape marketing association based in Fresno, dis- cussed the 2010 harvest and outlook for the California grape and wine industry. Bitter noted that demand continues for coastal grapes, but not at the same prices as previously. He said, "The wine market is experiencing excess supply, but it is limited to the upper end of the market." He com- mented that trends in the grape concentrate market have increased demand and prices, giving Central Valley growers another sales option. Bitter concluded, "There's more to be optimistic about than there has been since the mid-1990s here in the Central Valley." winesandvines.com Learn more: Search keywords "Central Valley." —Jon Tourney by the second-earliest harvest of frozen grapes for ice wine ever recorded in Brit- ish Columbia's Okanagan Valley. A string of cold days culminated in air tempera- tures of at least minus-8°C (17.6°F) on Nov. 22, triggering ice wine harvest— the earliest since the freakishly advanced Nov. 5, 1993, harvest. Andis Wines mium Sierra Foothills wines, opened the newest and most architecturally mod- ern winery and tasting room in Amador County. Located along a well-traveled road in the Shenandoah Valley American Viticultural Area, where Andis hopes to capitalize on direct sales to visitors, the 17,000-square-foot building is designed to be functionally efficient and visually attractive. It also has a 30- to 40-year-old vineyard planted to Amador's signature vine, head-pruned Zinfandel. A FIJI WATER ACQUIRES JUSTIN company, Roll International, have acquired 45,000-case Justin Vineyards & Winery in Paso Robles. Both Justin and Deborah Baldwin, who founded Justin Vineyards in 1981, will be staying on and working close- ly with the companies' senior executives to increase production and distribution in the coming years. F iji Water, the Los Angeles-based bot- tled water importer, and its parent NEW WINERY OPENS IN AMADOR ndis Wines, a project launched less than three years ago to produce pre- JON TOURNEY