By Stacy Finz, San Francisco Chronicle
After keeping their wallets in their pockets during the height of the recession, California wine-grape growers are ready to expand their vineyards or replant existing ones.
Everyone is hustling to get their vines in the ground by May. The problem: There is a shortage of vines.
Nurseries got so slammed with orders from the big growers in the summer and fall that anyone who didn’t get in on the frenzy early is now grape out of luck.
David Beckstoffer, president of Beckstoffer Vineyards, said there are blocks on his Napa Valley and Mendocino properties that won’t get planted this year because his suppliers are out of the clones of Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay that were earmarked for that land.
“Some of them are very unusual clones and some of them are very popular,” said Beckstoffer, who is also president of the Napa Valley Grape Growers Association. All of them were sold out before Beckstoffer tried to put in an order at the end of last year. “We could have compromised and gone with different clones. But we’ve decided to wait to plant them until 2013. It’s not a disaster; we’ll just focus on other blocks for now.”
While the lack of vines isn’t likely to affect the price of wine in the foreseeable future, it could slow production at a time when growers are getting top dollar for their grapes.
“And if growers haven’t already ordered for 2013, they’re probably not going to get what they need, either,” said Steve Maniaci, general manager of Sunridge Nurseries, one of the largest commercial vine vendors in California. “This came up so quickly that it has hit a lot of people by surprise.”
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