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January 2018 WINES&VINES 59 VINTAGE 2017 Mechanization spreads across North America as labor grows even more scarce W herever wine grapes ripened to maturity in North America in 2017, there were fewer human hands available to pick them. Growers and other ex- perts in the wine industry say labor has grown even more scarce in the past year. That means more machines are picking grapes and being used for other vineyard jobs such as pruning. "Getting enough harvest pickers still re- mains the No. 1 hurdle for vineyard operators. Finding enough pruning help would be the sec- ond most common hurdle. The use of more mechanical vineyard equipment will dramati- cally increase in the near future," said Mike White, extension viticulture specialist at Iowa State University. White was one of several advisors, academ- ics, growers and winemakers who participated in Wines & Vines' annual vintage report. Re- gional write-ups provided by experts throughout North America were complemented by a tar- geted survey of winemakers and the owners of vineyards and wineries in California, the Pacific Northwest, Midwest and eastern states. In all of those regions, it was harder to find labor this year than in previous harvests. In the western states, the worry is the shortage will become even more acute as wine grape grow- ers have to compete with cannabis farms. Many winery owners reported having to pay higher per-ton rates for hand labor or contracting with a company to provide workers. California recorded a record deluge during the winter of 2016-17, with some parts of the North Coast seeing historic rainfall totals. All that rain was followed by fire later in the year, when wildfires raged through the North Bay in October. There were several major wildfires in the Northwest as well, but contamination from smoke appears to have been limited. In the Northern California counties of Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino and Solano, the majority of late- ripening grapes had already been picked. "This vintage was bookended by extreme weather events: a historically wet winter, and damaging October wildfires. In the winter, we were tuned to weather alerts of flooding, and in October road closures, evacuation orders, the uncer- tainty of property damage and the tragic loss of life," reported Monica Cooper, the University of California farm advisor for Napa County. According to the survey of California wine- makers and growers, the bigger issue was heat waves in August and Labor Day weekend that damaged some clusters and also stalled grape ripening. Nearly 45% of those surveyed said harvest was "somewhat reduced," and the heat was a primary reason. In many parts of the Midwest, where wine grapes are grown alongside other crops, herbi- cide drift—particularly of dicamba—is a major concern. "Every year that wet field conditions delay row crop planting, drift becomes a major problem," said Bruce Bordelon, a viticulture pro- fessor at Purdue University. "The record number of complaints filed by the state chemist this year indicate the problem is not being addressed through education alone." Despite the challenges, many growers, wine- makers, university farm advisors and wine and viticulture professors reported in Wines & Vines' annual vintage report that the wines of 2017 had excellent potential. "The very warm September and first half of October pushed some exceptional fruit devel- opment and may produce some exemplary wines," said Thomas Todaro, viticulture educa- tor for the Michigan State University Extension. Growers in Texas appear to have produced an- other record harvest of exceptional quality. "Overall fruit quality was very high throughout the state, and many winemakers expressed anticipation of an outstanding 2017 vintage," said Ed Hellman, a pro- fessor of viticulture at Texas Tech University. Wines & Vines appreciates getting harvest insights from around North America and would welcome input from any region not specifically covered in this report. Contact edit@winesandvines.com to help contribute to the 2018 report. Duckhorn Vineyards in Napa Valley, Calif., starts its 40th vintage with an early morning harvest of Sauvignon Blanc.