On a foggy August morning at the Bailey’s Branciforte Ridge vineyard, Jeff Emery gently holds a cluster of pulverized grapes in his palm. They look like a miniature unripe version of the picked-over batch that sat in the refrigerator for too long: some berries are large, some are the size of BBs and others are barely visible.
Emery started working at Santa Cruz Mountain Winery in 1979 and bought it in 2004. During these last few years, he has seen some of the coolest summers of his career, and some of the hottest ones, too—sometimes in the same year. During 2010’s summer growing season, the temperature went from the mid-70s to over 100 degrees within a few days. “It fried everything,” says Emery. “The grapes went from berries to raisins overnight.”
This year, vineyards in the Santa Cruz Mountains are coping with the fallout from late rains that shattered a portion of the crops. (Growers use the term “shatter” to describe what happens when crops are too wet and cold during bloom to set seeds in the fruit. With no seed inside, the fruit has no need to grow or expand—hence the BB-sized berries.) They’re also negotiating cooler-than-average summer temperatures. And while statistics suggest nothing out of the ordinary—NOAA Meteorological Technician Steven Anderson says the average summer temperature in the Monterey Bay area since 1894 has been 72 degrees, and this summer’s average has so far been 70 degrees—the growers tell another story.
“For those in agriculture it doesn’t take much to shift everything,” says Emery. Coupled with the lost crops from late rains, the cool weather has made what Emery calls a “big mess.”
“This weather is killer. It’s terrible,” he says, standing in weeds that have grown up over a foot around the vineyard due to the year’s surplus moisture, a result of the cold. He’s also facing a reduced yield. “Instead of getting a big cluster of fruit, a lot of berries are missing,” says Emery.
Viticulturist Rick Anzalone, who’s worked with vineyards in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, says the problem isn’t so much the cool weather right now as a cold spring. “When spring weather is warmer, the earlier flowering tends to make a longer growing season,” says Anzalone. “The vines flowered relatively late.”
Although each growing site is affected differently depending on geography and management, Emery says that three years from now, when this year’s crops hits retail shelves, his winery will feel the effects of the short supply of pinot variety. “I’m already hitting short supply with the ’09 and ’10,” says Emery. “It becomes an economic issue of not having enough supply.”
With some exceptions, yields are down 30 percent for all varietals except chardonnay, says viticulture consultant Prudy Foxx. “That’s an average across the board. There are some who have no yield problem at all, there are others who lost everything. It’s hit-and-miss based on location and what weather they had at bloom,” says Foxx.
The moisture has turned the crop’s canopies into a jungle in some cases. In the vineyard next door to Bailey’s Branciforte Ridge Vineyard, vines reaching for the sky shake as workers wrestle them into submission. “You can almost hear them at night. If you came out here with a flashlight… they look like they grew almost a foot overnight,” says Anzalone.
Foxx has witnessed similar overgrowth in many of the vineyards she manages in Santa Cruz. “It’s an expensive year because you still have to clean out the leaves in the cool wet mornings,” Foxx says. When doing “canopy management,” or trimming overgrowth, the weather’s mood swings are something to fear; in cold weather a grower can trim the leaves to give the grapes more sunlight, only to have all their exposed fruit zapped by hot weather the next day. “It’s a delicate balance. We’ve trained crews that know how to do it, but it’s expensive.” The increased moisture that causes growth also creates a greater need for chemicals to prevent mildew.
Luckily, Santa Cruz Mountain vineyards don’t face the some of the problems that northern growers do, like frost. (“Those guys are as nervous as a hooker in a church,” says Anzalone.) Above a canyon and right against a ridge, Bailey’s Branciforte Ridge Vineyard—which used to be a timber preserve—gets just enough sunlight and airflow to get the grapes ripe and keep the insects out.
The fruit that is left this growing season is still in good quality, Emery says. And even though growers are craving some sunlight to get their grapes ripe, Emery thinks it’s not entirely bad. “I’m old school. Wine should not be 16 percent alcohol and taste like jam,” Emery says firmly of the hot weather that can produce fruit that is very sweet.
Anzalone does get frustrated at times. “Then you walk up and have a glass of wine and think about why you’re doing it,” says Anzalone. “You’ve got to love it, there’s easier ways of making a living … Part of the farmer’s job is to adapt to the weather and utilize it.”
