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18 WINES&VINES April 2017 WINE INDUSTRY NEWS F resno, Calif.—Fresno County was the first winegrowing region to exhibit bud break in California as of March 3. George Zhuang, University of California Cooperative Extension viticulture farm advisor for Fresno County, said growers from the west side of the county reported white wine varieties leafing out during the first week of March. Despite the chilly, wet winter, the region's wine grape varieties were on schedule with 2016. Raisin and table grapes start their seasons earlier, and some suffered frost damage, local sources said. "I think we're always the first," said Nathan Cardella, winemaker at 4,500-case Cardella Winery in Mendota, Calif., where some of his French Colombard had begun to break. Cardella started prun- ing in mid-December on the 850- acre vineyard. Cardella added some Chenin Blanc vines to the lineup and harvested the first crop last year. Most of his yields of this variety are destined for sale to other wineries, but Cardella ex- pects to vinify some himself. His west-side vineyards are hand- harvested, but those further east are mechanically harvested. There are just 23 wineries in Fresno County, according to Wines Vines Analytics. Peter Angelo Vallis, executive director for the San Joaquin Wine- growers Association, concurred that Fresno is usually the first Cali- fornia region to experience bud break, starting in the west and working its way east toward the Sierra Foothills. First varieties to leaf out de- pend on the area. "Who knows what's going to dry up first?" Vallis wondered. Most soils in the county have good drainage. While winter rains finally stopped and the sun emerged in late February, overnight tempera- tures have been unusually frigid, according to Mark Salwasser, vineyard manager for Fresno State Vineyards at California State Uni- versity, Fresno. O v e r n i g h t t e m p e r a t u r e s reached 31°-32° F in late Febru- ary, and Salwasser found frost in the vineyards. Pruning at Fresno State Vineyards finished Feb. 25. The vines allow the university's 8,000-case winery, founded in 1997, to be self-supporting and serve as training grounds for vi- ticulture and enology students, Salwasser said. —Jane Firstenfeld Fresno First to Reach Bud Break in California GAI SINCE 1946 BOTTLING LINES FROM 1.000 TO 15.000 B/H: frazione Cappelli, 33/b 12040 Ceresole d'Alba (Cn) Italy - tel. +39 0172 574416 gai@gai-it.com - www.gai-it.com Scriba Studio / ph Paolo Marchisio MACCHINE IMBOTTIGLIATRICI Quality we design it, we built it, we bottle it WINES & VINES 7.625x4.875 [2017]:Layout 1 28-11-2016 20:06 Pagina 1 Vineyards in western Fresno County started bud break with the white wine grape varieties Colombard (above) and Pinot Gris. GEORGE ZHUANG/ UCCE