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October 2017 WINES&VINES 15 WINE INDUSTRY NEWS S an Rafael, Calif.—Head- ing into summer, most growers were expecting an average harvest in terms of timing, yields and quality. Heavy winter rains had filled reservoirs, saturated and flushed soils and brought California's his- toric drought to an end. Yet those rains delivered the first challenge of 2017: thick, full canopies and lingering moisture that brought heavier than normal powdery mil- dew in the spring. Then, in late August and early September, a record-setting heat wave (106°F in San Francisco on Sept. 1) in the North Coast of Cali- fornia sent Brix soaring and ac- celerated harvest of early varieties while grape skins shriveled. Just a few days after the heat, a rare string of autumn thunder showers and high humidity passed through the region, causing another flurry of picking to get any clusters at risk of bunch rot safely off the vine. But when conditions some- times dictated a pick, growers and vintners had to deal with crews not showing up as manual labor con- tinues to grow more scarce. In the Northwest, and southern Oregon in particular (see page 17), a thick pall of wildfire smoke hung in the air. Despite the smoke, growers in Oregon remain optimistic for a quality year, and smoke in British Columbia helped offset a hot sum- mer and extend the growing sea- son. Mildew was a significant concern in Washington state, where growers had to contend with pressure early in the year. Jeff Bitter, vice president of operations for the Allied Grape Growers, said from what he's seen and heard he is now expect- ing California's total wine grape crop will be less than the ex- pected average of 4.2 million tons. In mid-September he said it was still early, but it's likely 2017 will be a shorter than nor- mal year. "It's possible we could be down 10% overall and some- thing as low as 3.6 (million tons) is in the cards." He said the exceptional heat of early September likely was the biggest factor statewide. "There's no way that's good for the vines or the crop," he said. "There's no way that makes a larger crop just a shrinking crop." But despite the heat, sugar ac- cumulation — even in the interior valleys — has been slow and with moderate, cooler weather in the immediate forecast the rest of California's red grapes may have sufficient time to get back into balance for a more "normal" har- vest through October. Bitter added "without a doubt" labor has been an issue, but the challenge appeared manageable for companies with enough year- round work to retain workers and for those that planned well in advance. Trying to schedule picks on short notice was much more of a challenge. Heat was the 'final straw' "Last week's heat was the final straw to a very difficult year," Craig Ledbetter told Wines & Vines in early September. "Burn was al- ready prevalent throughout the area due to heat spikes in June and July. The heat last week just put the final touches on what was already a difficult season," Ledbetter manages vineyards in Lodi, Calif., for Vino Farms LLC and said challenges in the Lodi area began during the win- t e r w h e n h e a v y r a i n s o v e r - w h e l m e d l e v e e s a n d l e f t vineyards flooded for weeks or even months. Powdery mildew was the No. 1 challenge for the season. Al- though his team combatted it with extra spray passes, in most occa- sions they also had to drop a sub- stantial amount of fruit. "We have never seen a season like this and hope we never see another one like this," he said. Adding to the challenges in Lodi was a lack of labor with — not just for picking but even for skilled drivers to operate har- vester machines. Several growers and winemakers in the North Coast also reported a lack of labor. Andy Smith, winemaker and partner in DuMOL Vineyard and Winery that is located in Windsor, Calif., and buys grapes from both Sonoma and Napa counties, said the "most important aspect of the season" was the scarcity of labor. "You needed to schedule five to seven days ahead of the desired pick date to ensure a slot," he said. Smith said he was able to pull all his Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in 10 days before the heat, and while quite stressful (it would nor- mally require three weeks of work) it has proved to be worth it. "De- spite a very tough mildew season, good healthy fruit," he said. "Little bit of rot in tight cluster cones, but no problem really." Stephen Hawkes, owner of Hawkes winery and vineyards in nearby Geyserville, said 2017 is proving to be another early year for all varieties. Hawkes has pur- chased a mechanical harvester that will pick almost all of his grapes. He said there are fewer workers than in previous years and those who are available are older. "Looks as if the era of sea- sonal labor is coming to an end," he said. "That may be a good thing for everybody." In early August, the Hyde fam- ily, owners of Hyde Vineyards in the Carneros AVA, opened a new winery in time for harvest for their eponymous wine brand. Managing partner Chris Hyde said the harvest of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir was about done. He said Pinot yields had remained average, but the Chardonnay was coming in slightly below average to as much as 40% below for some vineyards planted to the Wente clone because the smaller berries of the clusters fell victim to desiccation. "We have a couple blocks of Chard left that seem to have been shocked by the heat and the ripen- ing has been set back. The canopy looks a bit tired now, and the sug- ars shot up while acids remained high in lots of varieties, which will make wine production tricky in the cellar," he said. "We look for- ward to what looks like promising yields in the late season red variet- ies, Merlot, Cab and Syrah." In the Petaluma Gap area of Sonoma County, estate director Ana Keller of Keller Estate re- ported in early September that heat and labor had been issues. "Earlier in the season we lost four of our crew and replaced them with a new team, albeit at a higher rate," she said. "As the season got difficult with having to max out our picking abilities due to the heat, those new workers could not NAPA VALLEY VINTNERS TOP STORY An Average Year Quickly Turns Challenging Planning and scheduling hand-picks is becoming even harder as labor grows more scarce.