October’s warm weather has led to an abundance of summer produce
at local farms, but winegrape growers are still waiting for
approximately one-third of their harvest to ripen. Farmers and
growers alike are keeping a close eye on the weather forecast,
which currently calls for five days of rain commencing Friday.
“It’s October. You still have all the summer crops and all the
fall crops. It’s the best time of the year,” Wayne James, farmer
and co-owner of Tierra Vegetables said.
Local farmers markets and farm stands have finally reached that
glorious stage of the season where both summer and fall produce is
available in abundance. Frost hasn’t yet paid a visit to local
farms, so corn, melons, tomatoes, cucumbers and summer squash are
still going strong. The final fruits of the year—strawberries,
peaches, apples, pears—heap high on farmers’ tables.
And Fall produce has come in as well, in the form of winter
squash, pie pumpkins, and cool-weather greens.
“We just had a cooking demonstration with chestnuts, and there’s
lots of winter squash and wonderful greens to boost your immune
system,” Healdsburg Farmers’ Market manager Mary Kelley said.
For local produce shoppers, a smorgasbord awaits. “At the farm
stand, we have everything right now,” said Evie Truxaw of Tierra
Vegetables. “We seriously do have everything,” she added, listing
off nearly three dozen varieties of heirloom produce and products
like Moon & Stars Watermelon, cranberry shell beans, and
freshly ground green, blue, and pink cornmeal.
But five days of rain could spell the end of the tomato season,
and trouble for winegrapes still awaiting harvest.
“The goal is to get the white grapes in by the rain,” said Nick
Frey, President of the Sonoma County Winegrape Commission.
“I think we’re probably 60 to 70 percent finished,” said Sonoma
County Winegrape Commissioner Duff Bevill, owner of Bevill Vineyard
Management. “After Tuesday, just about everything left out will be
Cabernet Sauvignon, and a little bit of Petite Syrah.”
If the rain is followed by a dry spell, both noted, the hardy
red winegrapes could potentially weather the storm without any
trouble.
“We’re not going to get all of it in before the rain. The ones
that are going to go through the rain, the canopies are opened up,
and they’re going to tough it out,” Bevill said. “Cabernet can
stand a rain as long as it’s not too protracted. If it stays dry
and reasonably warm afterwards, it won’t be a problem. If it turns
chilly and cold, then it will be a problem. The rain in and of
itself doesn’t have to be bad, because most of the varieties that
are still out there are tough.”
The past five months have presented challenges to fruit,
vegetable, and winegrape growers. The cool, wet spring slowed early
vine growth and caused setbacks for warm weather crops like melons
and tomatoes. The mild summer followed by a scorching heat wave in
August resulted in crop losses in apples as well as winegrapes,
both of which fell victim to sunburn.
“I probably lost 10%, which was better than I thought,” said
Gary Blasi of Gary Blasi Vineyards. “If the bunch is half raisins,
the winery will take it, but if it’s more than half they won’t.”
Blasi also grows apples to sell at local farmers markets, and noted
that Arkansas Black seemed to be especially hard hit by
sunburn.
While the erratic weather resulted in lower winegrape yield,
there were not necessarily correlations to be made to grape
quality.
“The verdict’s still out on some specific lots of grapes.
Everybody’s agonizing over Zin this year, but we picked some really
great blocs of Zinfandel that were as good as any year,” Bevill
said. “We picked some nice Chardonnay this year, too. The Sauvignon
Blancs are really really nice.”
And in a tough economy, lower yield can cut both ways.
“I don’t think we’ve built up any inventory here, so there might
be more wineries looking for contract growers next year. If there’s
a silver lining to this season, that might be it,” Frey said.
Still, the silver lining wasn’t too bright, and growers seemed
ready to put the harvest behind them and start thinking about the
following year.
“Everybody’s just waiting to get this year done with. I think
the rain puts the exclamation point on it,” Frey said.
Blasi put it another way: “What a year. It’s really just been an
odd, odd year.”
