In the Pfalz, Germany (directly north of Alsace) late spring frosts (although not winter frost), hail, Oidium, Peronospora (downy mildew), and Botrytis top the list. I think that it is a common misconception that German winemakers accept or even favor a certain amount of Botrytis, but the Pfalz is a dry wine region and we are constantly fighting it. We get more rainfall (670 mm/year -drought is generally not a problem) during the growing season than the Mediterranean countries and we are far north enough that canopies need to be rather high and dense for proper ripening. Canopy management is always a big priority (like everywhere I’d guess.) That the entire region is over fertilized also doesn’t help with fungus control. Soil types are extremely diverse meaning that there is no one-size fits all answer to soil work or fertilization and there are over 80 different varieties being grown here with better or worse results, though Riesling is the biggest player. Good red wine vintages usually mean acid deficiencies for whites, while great Riesling vintages generally mean leaner Pinot Noir (though 24 or 25 brix is generally attainable for Pinot.)
I’m curious what challenges the rest of you must overcome and how you do it.
By far, here in the eastern US, rain water is our biggest challenge. Humidity is a close second but disease from both is not too much of a problem so long as vigor and canopy is well managed and you are on top of your spray program. Dilution of flavor from too much rain at the wrong time is problem number one. Proper site selection is key to minimizing the impact from excessive water. Low water carrying capacity sites, i.e. 30%+ slopes with high rock content meager soils plus under trellis covercrops are a must, especially for red variety grapes. The wine worlds outside view of this winegrowing region is another, maybe tougher challenge we face.
This was the main theme of the technical sessions Tuesday at Unified Wine & Grape Symposium.
In short, the Finger lakes, Oregon and Washington deal with weather that is foreign to most of CA. What we think of is extreme is normal to them.
The take away is as such you need to react quickly to the reality of THIS vintage, and adjust in the vineyard, and if need be adjust in the cellar, so that unusual weather patterns don’t ruin your crop/vintage.
On a longer run basis, in Southern Santa Clara County, our biggest problems are perceptions.
If people perceive your regional wines are not worth $XX but $X a bottle, then that becomes reality, and winemaking and cultural practices lower to what is appropriate and affordable at that price point. Getting producers to communicate the worth of their wine is a hard struggle, many are not able to articulate, and many are in a habit of making $X bottles when they could be making $XX or even $XXX if they chose to.
I’m also from Southern Humboldt and I have spent the last few years reflecting on just this question as I am working to produce wine and increase the awareness of our region as well. I agree with Andrew about weather and perception. However these difficulties are manageable and occur (or have occurred) at least occasionally in many other Northern California and Oregon regions, and Andrew’s wines seem pretty great to me despite the weather difficulties. http://wineberserkers.com/forum/posting.php?mode=reply&f=4&t=60254#
After reflection I think the biggest challenge in our area, not as much currently but in the not distant future, is a shortage of grapes. This shortage could be great for the growers and producers (higher $$) in the short term, but there is a critical mass of people who will need to be making quality wine and producing quality grapes in order to have enough Humboldt bottles on the market to really build a name on the regional and national levels. This collegial group of local producers is also needed to maintain a consistent and coherent level of quality of products through their communication/coordination between each other. I, as a soon to be producer, do see a shortage of Humboldt County grapes as being a potential barrier to my development of a winery with the quality, price, and quantity required to support the growth and expansion of a young wine region.
There are already at least two non-Humboldt producers that I know of buying grapes from our region, and I think this purchasing will continue to increase over the next few years, particularly if our grape prices continue to remain competitive with Anderson Valley and other Pinot/cool regions nearby. I think out of region producers (assuming they are good) are positive in general and help our region to gain exposure, but I think we should make sure we produce enough wine on our own estates and from our own region that we really build a unique and coherent style of wine in a quantity that can define our area on a regional and national level. In order to do this with Humboldt County grapes and make the wine by Humboldt County winemakers we will need more vineyards.
I was taught to always list my references, and the ideas about a critical mass of growers are not entirely my own, but stem from a brief conversation with Charles Olken about Humboldt as a wine region. I am, as whenever I get advise, much appreciative towards him.
I use Humboldt County simply as a reference point, there are producers just south of the county line in Mendocino that I identify with Humboldt more than with the larger Mendocino regions due to their similar growing conditions and philosophies about wine and grapes.
When you have one or two periods per vintage, each lasting two to three days, where temps hit 37-42C with low humidity, you just have changes to the grapes I do not like. They shrivel, the brix can go to 27-30, the acids plunge and you lose fruit that will have to be dropped. Sometimes the grapes taste pruney after and sometimes they can still be green and pruney at the same time.
The way we try to mitigate this includes row orientation (if planting a new block) so that the canopy covers the grapes at the hottest part of the day, irrigation in the days leading up to the spike, altering the canopy so that it “flops” over the top and provides more shade, and in some cases, some vintners are sourcing from cooler spots in southern Napa where heat is less.
2009 Crimson Clover Vineyard Santa Clara Valley goes to market in 15 days at $44 per bottle. I should sell out in about 5 days. When I first released Uvas Creek at $35 everyone, and I mean everyone told me I was nuts. “No one will pay more than $12”, was what I heard. Now everyone has a $35 bottle of Cab in their rotation.
My experience is my customer nationally don’t give a rats ass of difference between Santa Clara Vally AVA wines and Santa Cruz Mountains AVA wines and will pay more for the single vineyard SCV wines. So that perception is completely local, but I agree it’s strong and effects winemaking locally.
For us in Anderson Valley I think its the spring frost and fall rain.
If crops get to damaged by frost ripening is all over the place and sugar can accumulate faster than flavors if the crop is smaller than average.
Fall rain the last few years has been happening earlier in the season and with more regularity and more often.
Those who like to pick earlier say sub 23 have not had as many issues though barley missing the rain by just days.
The other would be forest fires, I never want to deal with that kind of vintage again.