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8 WINES&VINES March 2017 A member of Wine Communications Group Inc. President & Publisher Chet Klingensmith Chairman Hugh Tietjen Publishing Consultant Ken Koppel Associate Publisher Tina Vierra Publishing Assistant Tiffany Maxwell Special Projects & Events Coordinator Johanna Rupp EDITORIAL Editor Jim Gordon Managing Editor Kate Lavin Senior Editor Andrew Adams Senior Correspondent Paul Franson Contributing Editor Jane Firstenfeld Northwest Correspondent Peter Mitham Columnists Grapegrowing: Cliff Ohmart and Glenn T. McGourty Contributing Writers Laurie Daniel, Richard Smart, Richard Carey, Chris Stamp, Andrew Reynolds, Craig Root, Ray Pompilio, Andy Starr, Fritz Westover Practical Winery & Vineyard (PWV) Editor Don Neel Wine East Editor Linda Jones McKee DESIGN & PRODUCTION Graphic Designer Rebecca Arnn DATABASE DEVELOPMENT AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY Vice President — Data Management Lynne Skinner Project Manager Liesl Stevenson Database & Web Development James Rust, Peter Scarborough EDITOR'S LETTER DRENCHING FLOODS IN CALIFORNIA, bitter cold and snow in the Northwest and absurdly seesawing freezes and thaws in the eastern United States remind us once again how little control grapegrowers have over their crops. The best way to bring a little more order to this natural chaos is to make yourself as smart as you can. This issue is full of information for those who want to grow their own grapes more efficiently. The vineyard technology coverage consists of four articles, which will also help winemakers who don't grow their own fruit but do want the tools to make themselves better grape buyers. 1. Three Sonoma estate winemakers give columnist Andy Starr a close look (page 28) at the technologies they use in their vineyards to improve wine quality and gain more consis- tency year to year. They share the types of data they collect, how they manage crop levels and what they do to measure harvest parameters. 2. Vineyard View columnist Cliff Ohmart digs into pesticide use in Lodi, Calif., using public data to chart how far local growers have come in reduc- ing the use of potentially hazardous inputs and making their farms more sustainable (page 32). 3. One way for growers to manage the risks caused not only by natural forces but by the inevitable supply-demand cycle of the wine industry is to make bulk wine, rather than simply selling grapes. Gabriel Froymovich explains how to calculate the benefits in his Viewpoint column (page 36). 4. How do Napa Valley growers nurture the kind of Cabernet Sauvignon grapes that rou- tinely sell for $7,000 per ton and as much $59,000 a ton in at least one case? Jim Bar- bour knows. Laurie Daniel interviews the highly sought-after viticulturist who manages several vineyards that produce cult-level wines (page 40). This is also the first issue in which we're able to look back with a little perspective on how well the wine business did in 2016. It did quite well, as you've probably heard. Numerous speakers at the Unified Wine & Grape Symposium in late January presented a host of data: retail sales numbers, the bulk wine market update, planting trends and so on (see page 18). Our Metrics section (pages 10-13) pulls the pertinent data together: • Domestic wine sales in all channels during the most recent 12 months grew by 4% in value and volume. • Direct-to-consumer shipments, the lifeline of thousands of mostly smaller wineries, grew by 19% in value. • Winery hiring activity averaged 8% and bounced up to 13% in January, indicating that owners and managers feel very confident about growth. Just before this issue went to press, the preliminary California Grape Crush Report came out, too, revealing a large harvest of more than 4 million tons that in- cluded the startling Cabernet Sauvignon price I men- tioned above (see page 15). That's a good, sizeable harvest but not a record-breaker, and it should con- tribute to stability in grape and wine prices. All in all, it's a great time to be in the grape and wine business in North America. Soon spring will be here, the floods will end, the snow will melt and the buds will begin to break. Then the whole adventure is on again—for the 2017 vintage. —Jim Gordon Viticulturists and winemakers share the types of data they collect, how they manage crop levels and how they measure harvest parameters. CONTACT US SUBSCRIPTIONS Email: subs@winesandvines.com Online: winesandvines.com/subscribe Phone: (866) 453-9701 EDITORIAL Email: edit@winesandvines.com MAIL 65 Mitchell Blvd., Suite A San Rafael, CA 94903 CONNECT WITH US facebook.com/WinesandVines twitter.com/WinesandVines youtube.com/WinesandVines1919 Vineyard Technology Sets Stage for 2017