2010 wine grape harvest third largest in state history

By Mark Glover
mglover@sacbee.com The Sacramento Bee
Published: Thursday, Feb. 10, 2011 - 4:52 pm

Last year’s wine grape harvest exceeded expectations. The Preliminary Grape Crush Report released today by the California Department of Food and Agriculture said California wineries crushed 3.58 million tons of wine grapes in 2010, third largest in state history. Last year’s numbers fell short of about 3.67 million tons in 2009 and the record harvest of 3.76 million tons in 2005.

Some analysts anticipated a significant decrease in 2010 due to regional crop damage and some unfavorable weather conditions. However, crop preservation and recently planted acreage offset some of the concerns. Production in California’s northern interior was down 22 percent from a record year in 2009, but southern interior production increased 5 percent.

Steve Fredricks, president of the Turrentine Brokerage in Novato, said “the overall inventory position of the industry is much better today than it was a year ago. Many brands have successfully pared inventories down and are now in need of wine to satisfy growing sales. “Wine consumption continued to grow through the recession, but some consumers traded down to less-expensive wines.

We’re starting to see those consumers trade back up, which is good news for wineries and growers.â€