Posts Tagged: wine

Consider every eventuality before planting vineyard

Sacramento Bee food editor and restaurant critic Mike Dunne devoted two columns in a row to the sad saga of winegrape grower Harmon Overmire. After retiring from the aerospace industry, Overmire planted four acres of Malbec wine grapes in Sheldon, Calif. A somewhat uncommon winegrape variety, Malbec creates an inky red wine with plum-like flavor and is often used for blending, according to the Malbec entry on Wikipedia.

Overmire's sorrow, according to Dunne's first column (published Sept. 24), springs from the inability to find a buyer for his crop. "I haven't found a soul. No one was even interested, and the grapes are ready to pick right now," Overmire was quoted. "I would just like to break even."

In today's column, Dunne looks to a UC Cooperative Extension expert for perspective on Overmire's plight. He spoke to Lynn Wunderlich, the viticulture farm advisor for El Dorado and Amador counties. Growing and making wine is probably one of the more romantic pursuits for whiling away an active retirement. But Wunderlich warns, "If they need to make money at it, think again."

According to Dunne, Wunderlich suggests would-be winegrape farmers must be serious about growing quality fruit. She urged farmers to join the local grape-growers association and to network with winemakers.

And all this should be done early. "Harvest time isn't the best time to sell," Wunderlick told Dunne.

Overall, Dunne said, Wunderlick is upbeat about prospects for new winegrape growers.

"There are still opportunities for growth, but it needs to be well thought out," she was quoted.

A cluster of Malbec winegrapes.

July smoky wine prediction coming true

Last July, when the summer's most ferocious wildfires near wine country were still smoldering, Wine Spectator magazine suggested the 2008 vintage could be tainted by the smoke.

An article in today's Santa Rosa Press-Democrat seems to confirm that the magazine's early prediction is coming to fruition, at least in Mendocino County.

“Winemakers are saying that they think stuff is smelling funny to them, and they want to know what’s going on,” the Press-Democrat article quoted Glenn McGourty, viticulture advisor for UC Cooperative Extension in Mendocino County.

The article said McGourty held a workshop to teach winemakers options for preventing, for example, an unpleasant smoky quality from masking the subtle oak, buttery, vanilla flavor of their best chardonnay.

Michelle Bowen, director of laboratory operations at Vinquiry, said grapes are coming in with an aroma that is "kind of smoked salmony and fishy.”

"The good news is that there seems to be the technology to fix things if something is wrong,” McGourty is quoted in the story. Reporter Kevin McCallum wrote that McGourty was referring to filtration companies that specialize in removing the malodorous compounds.

“Winemakers are wizards at taking problems and turning them into drinkable products," McGourty concluded.

A cluster of merlot winegrapes.

UC advisor says Sonoma winegrapes are looking good

Unusually warm late summer temperatures in Sonoma County have grapes ready for harvest a bit early this year, causing some angst for wineries used to a longer break between the harvest of white and red varieties, according to a story in today's Santa Rosa Press Democrat.

But UC Cooperative Extension viticulture farm advisor Rhonda Smith assured the paper that the 2008 vintage isn't suffering. Smith attributes the warmer harvest season to a lack of fog.

Cooling fog helps keep the acid and sugar levels in the ripening fruit in balance, allowing flavors to develop, she explained to reporter Kevin McCallum. Nevertheless, Smith said the heat hasn't damaged what looks like a beautiful, if small, crop, according to the article.

“The grapes look great,” she is quoted. “For all the heat we’ve had, the vines themselves do not look tired.”

 

 

Speaking of Rhonda Smith, the long-time UC advisor was honored by the 2008 Sonoma County Harvest Fair as a “Friend of Sonoma County Agriculture," according to an article in the Sonoma West Times and News.

“This was totally unexpected. I was honored. It came out of the blue. I was extremely shocked and pleasantly surprised,” Smith is quoted in the article.

Research helps determine fantasy winery costs

A story in the Sacramento Business Journal about a common fantasy in the workaday world - quitting one's job and starting a winery - was informed by UC Cooperative Extension research. And the bottom line is sobering.

The story says it will cost $4.5 million to get the winery going and keep the business running through the first three years. If you want to make your own wine, "plan on spending another several hundred thousand dollars to start a small winery," the story said.

Writer Celia Lamb spoke to UC Davis viticulturalist Jim Wolpert about the cost of building the winery.

“Some people have pole buildings with blown-in insulation,” Wolpert was quoted. “They don’t have any great attempt of having a first-class facility that’s going to be on the cover of some magazine.”

Others spend $300 per square foot on a tasting room, he added.

The majority of numbers presented in the story came from a UC cost-of-production study on vineyard establishment, which put the price tag at about $13,402 per acre for the first three years.

The hypothetical grower used in the study already owns property with surface water rights for irrigation and has a building, equipment, tools, a drip irrigation system and a drainage system worth a total of $689,000.

Winery founder John Giguiere warns in the story, “If you’re not at least 25 years old or don’t have a vast amount of experience in the industry, don’t get involved, because it’s a good way to lose a lot of money."

In the wake of 2008 fires: Tainted wine and lost habitat

Cooler weather in California is helping firefighters begin to get a handle on fires that have raged in the state for weeks. But concerns over the fires' consequences are sure to continue for months. Two articles over the weekend touched on such issues.

The Wine Spectator magazine raised the spector of 2008 vintage wines being imparted with a smoky character due to the fires.

"There are examples of smokiness from forest fires showing up in wines," the story quoted Roger Boulton, a viticulture and enology professor at UC Davis.

The article, by Augustus Weed, said chemicals in the smoke can coat grapes and be absorbed into the grape skins. The density of the smoke, how long it is in contact with the grapes and how far away the vineyards are from the fires, determines how extensive the effect is.

UC Cooperative Extension farm advisor Glenn McGourty was also quoted in the story. He said the main concern to vineyards from the fires is a dwindling supply of water.

The writer paraphrased McGourty as saying water will not be an issue for the majority of the Mendocino wine industry, which gets its water from the Russian River. But in dry regions like Anderson Valley and Redwood Valley, water supplies are low and it could become a problem.

The San Luis Obispo Tribune ran a story about the destruction of wildlife habitat by fire. Writer David Sneed reported that Bill Tietje, a UCCE natural resources advisor, said large, fast-moving fires can confuse and overwhelm even birds and fleet-footed animals. 

Tietje noted that the 1994 fire on Highway 41 was so hot and burned so fast that firefighters observed quail flying into the flames and afterwards found the charred remains of deer and mountain lions.

“In the case of catastrophic wildfire,” Tietje was quoted, “animals may be killed directly or must move into adjacent habitat where their chances of making a living are reduced.”

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