California Winegrape Crop in 2011: 3.34 Million Tons «

NOVATO, CA–(Marketwire — Feb 10, 2012) — The Pre­lim­i­nary Cal­i­for­nia Grape Crush Report released today shows the total crop of wine­grapes har­vested in 2011 was 3.34 mil­lion tons, down 7% from 2010 — and right on the 5 year aver­age. While the crop was aver­age over­all, many key vari­eties posted sharp declines, espe­cially in the Coastal regions.

Key Find­ings:

“Even though the crop in total was equal to the 5-year aver­age, the key fact is that it was far short of demand. Con­sumer sales con­tinue to grow, and winer­ies would have liked to have crushed hun­dreds of thou­sands of addi­tional tons.”

–Brian Clements, Vice Pres­i­dent, Tur­ren­tine Brokerage

“Of the major vari­eties, Chardon­nay, Caber­net Sauvi­gnon, Mer­lot, Sauvi­gnon Blanc, Zin­fan­del, and Syrah all posted sharp declines from 2010. Only two major vari­eties had larger crops in 2011: Pinot Noir and Pinot Gri­gio, which increased due to recent new plant­i­ngs and healthy yields in the Cen­tral Val­ley. Pinot Noir was down in the Coastal areas but statewide both Pinot Noir and Pinot Gri­gio had their largest crops ever in 2011. Basi­cally, demand will exceed sup­ply for the near future, keep­ing prices firm.”

–Steve Fredricks, Pres­i­dent, Tur­ren­tine Brokerage

“The generic vari­eties in the Cen­tral Val­ley were expected to be larger in 2011, but, in fact, only Rubired increased sig­nif­i­cantly — up 16%. Ruby Cab, Bar­bera, Chenin Blanc, and French Colom­bard all declined.

–Erica Moyer, Partner/Broker, Tur­ren­tine Brokerage

“The crop of Zin­fan­del in the Lodi area was down 25% from 2010, caused largely by lower yields, and the con­tin­ued shift towards red wine. This will keep the mar­ket active for 2012 grapes and bulk wine.”

–Erica Moyer, Partner/Broker, Tur­ren­tine Brokerage

“The Mus­cat vari­eties — used for the quickly grow­ing Moscato cat­e­gory — increased only 7%, or the equiv­a­lent of only 380,000 cases. Moscato has been post­ing sales growth of well over 75%.

–Steve Fredricks, Pres­i­dent, Tur­ren­tine Brokerage

“While the crop in the North Coast was down 11%, it could poten­tially have been much smaller if grow­ers and winer­ies hadn’t coop­er­ated to har­vest grapes early in many cases.”

–Brian Clements, Vice Pres­i­dent, Tur­ren­tine Brokerage

“Over­all, Chardon­nay, the largest vari­ety, was down a sub­stan­tial 15% statewide in 2011 com­pared to 2010, which is a decrease of 15 mil­lion gal­lons or over 6 mil­lion cases. Caber­net Sauvi­gnon, the largest red vari­ety, declined 14%, a decrease of 10 mil­lion gal­lons, or over 4 mil­lion cases.”

–Brian Clements, Vice Pres­i­dent, Tur­ren­tine Brokerage

“The Cen­tral Coast crop was ham­mered by frost in April of 2011 — which sliced the 2011 crop down 28% from 2010. San Luis Obispo and Santa Bar­bara Coun­ties were hit espe­cially hard — down 35%! To put this in absolute terms, the Cen­tral Coast har­vested 150,000 fewer tons in 2011 than in 2010.”

–Matt Tur­ren­tine, Partner/Broker, Tur­ren­tine Brokerage

“This aver­age sized crop comes at a time when indus­try inven­to­ries are at record lows. There is increased demand for all the major vari­eties — most of which expe­ri­enced lighter crops. Sup­ply will remain short for the fore­see­able future, keep­ing prices strong for grapes and bulk wine. Ulti­mately, con­sumer prices will increase as well.”

–Steve Fredricks, Pres­i­dent, Tur­ren­tine Brokerage

About Tur­ren­tine Bro­ker­age
Tur­ren­tine Bro­ker­age, founded in 1973, serves as trusted and strate­gic advi­sors to grow­ers, winer­ies, and financiers and spe­cial­izes in the strate­gic sourc­ing of wine grapes and bulk wine from the major grow­ing areas across the globe. Work­ing with thou­sands of winer­ies world­wide, and with over 2,000 grow­ers, this expe­ri­enced team has nego­ti­ated trans­ac­tions between buy­ers and sell­ers val­ued at more than $1.5 bil­lion over the past decade.

Arti­cle Source: http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release.do?id=1618547&sourceType=3