Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/918844
January 2018 WINES&VINES 65 VINTAGE 2017 Everyone was worried about labor shortages, and we had some difficulty finding supplemental crew during the heat spikes, but we made things work and got the fruit off in good shape. Tank space was at a premium because of the size of the harvest. SIERRA NEVADA FOOTHILLS El Dorado, Amador and Calaveras counties Sierra Foothills, Fair Play and California Shenandoah Valley Lynn Wunderlich Farm advisor University of California Cooperative Extension Higher tonnages and mixed quality, mainly due to irregular weather patterns, characterize the 2017 Sierra Foothills vintage. Early whites and later harvested red Rhône and Italian varieties produced well with bright flavors in blocks that had the irrigation water to support larger cano- pies. Some Zinfandel quality suffered due to heat-induced dehydration of berries. Powdery mildew was a spotty issue mostly cleaned up by the summer heat. Canker dis- ease and esca was noticeably prevalent; red blotch was a major concern. Zinfandel demand and prices were low; some Zinfandel vineyards are being grafted over to Italian and other more favorable varieties. There is increased interest in mechanical har- vesting due to chronic labor shortage prob- lems. At least two harvest machines were purchased for use in the Foothills this past season, something that was unthinkable in pre- vious years. Winemakers were debating if qual- ity will be affected. SONOMA COUNTY Rhonda J. Smith Viticulture farm advisor University of California Cooperative Extension Yields were less than expected and, overall, at or just below average. Waves of hot, dry weather occurred each month beginning in June and continuing in September. There was a rush to get fruit in as maturity allowed in early Sep- tember, when temperatures in warmer regions rose to more than 100° F, and relative humidity was under 10%. Those conditions caused fruit to dehydrate and some blocks to lose signifi- cant crop weight. Santa Rosa rain-year precipitation broke the re- cord in April at 57.8 inches. Wet weather in com- bination with a lack of field laborers prevented powdery mildew fungicide applications from hit- ting the target. As a result, by the middle of May, a large percentage of clusters in many blocks were diseased. Wet soils delayed the first fungi- cide applications, and abundant canopy growth kept the clusters from being adequately exposed because vines could not be shoot thinned soon enough. The incidence of botrytis shoot blight and esca were higher this year than normal. Vine mealybug infestations were discovered in more vineyard blocks and in vine shipments. Grape prices continued to rise while growers were attempting to reduce costs while maintain- ing quality. More were incentivized to mechani- cally harvest and consider mechanizing other labor-intensive practices. Labor costs were increasing at a faster rate than previous years as fewer people were working in vineyards. It is not known how commercial can- nabis production beginning in 2018 will affect labor availability.