MODESTO, Calif. (AP) — California agriculture officials
reported good news for wine lovers and vineyard operators alike: a
record harvest of wine grapes.
Growers in the nation’s premier
wine region brought in a bumper crop last year, thanks to expanded
acreage and overall favorable weather.
Wine brokers told The
Modesto Bee (http://bit.ly/1f0YxmG) that two back-to-back years of large
harvests will mean wine aficionados should find plenty of bargain
bottles on grocery store shelves.
"Consumers are in a great
position because of the amount of wine that is coming out of
California," said Erica Moyer of Riverbank, a grape and wine broker for
Turrentine Brokerage in Novato.
Wine grapes are one of
California’s top commodities, a crop worth $3.16 billion last year,
according to the California Association of Winegrape Growers.
The
California Department of Food and Agriculture’s preliminary figures show
that the crop of red and white varieties combined weighed in at 4.23
million tons in 2013, up 5 percent from 4.02 million tons in 2012.
The
industry is well positioned to take advantage of the large crops, said
Heidi Scheid, chairwoman of the winegrape growers’ association.
"After
short crops in 2010 and 2011, growers delivered two remarkable
vintages, with record-sized harvests and exceptional quality," she said.
While
Napa County’s vineyards carry international cache, the San Joaquin
Valley, stretching for 220 miles from Stockton to Bakersfield, is the
U.S.’s most prolific grape-growing region and home to 44 percent of the
state’s crop.
Along with raisins and table grapes, vast tracts of
wine grapes are mechanically harvested for popular labels such as
Gallo’s economy brands and Bronco’s popular Charles Shaw, aka Two Buck
Chuck, and blended into higher end wines.
Large growers in the valley are poised to profit from the higher volumes, analysts said.
"We
had a good-quality harvest, and heavier than expected," Fred Franzia,
CEO of Bronco, said in an email. Bronco is California’s largest vineyard
owner.
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Information from: The Modesto Bee, http://www.modbee.com
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