Almonds are the largest consumer of ag water in California
1 Like
Soā¦ is '24 a good vintage?
1 Like
What happens if the vineyard is not picked or pruned for a couple of year, maybe just weed/insect management and sustenance watering? Uprooting old vines seems so drastic and, yes, irreversible. I realize that there is no income, only (decreased) expense, but there is a good chance the market will come back and the grower will be ready. As opposed to bare fields or crops 2-5 years out.
Reluctant to wade into this quasi-politics topic again, but (a) $3M worth of wine orders seems pretty modest in the scheme of the California wine industry ā I think @B_Buzzini orders that much himself per year; and (b) wouldnāt tariffs on wine imports tend to favor domestic producers being able to sell domestically? The US is by a wide margin a net importer of wine.
[I donāt say any of that to imply an opinion about the tariffs, Iām just addressing the question of the role tariffs may have played in the 2024 harvest, which also happened before we even knew who was going to win the election.]
1 Like
I second this question. I think vines will keep on living as long as they donāt hit a critical shortage of water, but Iām not sure beyond that how much more or less healthy they get if they are mostly neglected for one or more vintages.
Yes, $3 million is modest overall. But thatās just a recent canceled order in Lodi. Canāt say whatās happening in Sonoma/Napa/Central Coast, or even Washington/Oregon, but I know many liquor stores across the border have removed American spirits from shelves as well, so itās not just wine. Maybe a Canadian member of this forum can chime in.
1 Like
Iāve been told anecdotally that half the grapes in Mendocino county went unpicked. A much higher percentage inland, whereas Anderson Valley had very little left hanging.
Itās very hard to āmothballā an existing vineyard. You must at the very least prune it in some form. You can cut back on many cultural practices but if you allow it to get powdery mildew it will get into the woodā¦not just the fruit and youāll have a hard time with it the following year. Grafting over is a popular tactic on down cycles. If all goes wellā¦it seldom does, youāll be back to full production in two years. If you have an older vineyard with a handful of issues, you get a grafted over vineyard with the sameā¦if not more issues. Iād never graft a vineyard over 20 years old. Better to push it out.
5 Likes
Letās say some export orders are canceled. Youād still have to net it out against the extent to which import orders get canceled or reduced, or demand for imports drops because of higher prices. You canāt just take one side of the coin in isolation.
2 Likes
As I said earlier, Iām not a farmer and I donāt play one on WB. Most of the grapes in the Lodi area are irrigated, so their roots may not be as deep as a dry-farmed vineyard. Some parts of the Lodi region have a relatively high water table, but those further east donāt (unless theyāre near the Mokelumne River or seasonal creek). There is essentially no rain here from May until late October, other than a freak storm. Just went on a bike ride today and saw even hundreds of more acres pulled out that were intact just three days ago.
1 Like
Iāve been involved with small wineries in Spain that started out with the purchase of very old vineyards with ārediscoveredā varietals. They had been neglected for years and were revived.
3 Likes
I wouldnāt be surprised if thatās how @Adam_Frisch gets some grapes around here for his Sabelli-Frisch label. Iāve heard he hunts this area like heās looking for treasures at a garage sale. 
Is this an order of wine or raw fruit? We were in BC in November, and much of lower Okanagan Valley was pretty devastated by freezes in 2023 and early 2024. Many vineyards were ripped out since the vines were dead. Some wineries we visited/talked to were importing fruit from WA/CA to make wine for sale in Canada. There were a number of variables with the process, some preferred to wait it out 2-3 years to reestablish estate vines, others wanting to maintain production using US fruit. This was before/outside any potential tariff impacts, so obviously things may be different now, 3 months later.
This is bottled wine for the retail market.
1 Like
So, maybe the almond valve is turned on also.
Make
Almond
Groves
Again
4 Likes
For sun-dried raisins.
You aināt wrong! Iāve sniffed out a lot of Lodi truffle (and a few turds)!
2 Likes
Time for four-dollar Fred 
2 Likes
And they are probably going to lose European markets soon as well, though i do not know how significant that market is.
There are just a few Odd Europeans who buy American wine.
3 Likes
Thereās certainly a market in Norway. McDonald, Kutch, Hirsch and Biricino have been occasional visitors in my cellar. But itās probably not a major market.
My name is an ancient name meaning edge, BTW.
Just be happy my last name is not Stranger, which is an existing surname in Norway.
6 Likes