As California's grape harvest transitioned from the Coachella region to more northern vinyards, the Central Valley's grape growers encountered a relatively open market. The resulting strong prices have been a welcome occurrence in a season of rising input costs and uncertainty about future water supplies.“We came into an empty market,” said Nick Dulcich of Sunlight International in Delano. “Mexico is just trying to clean up on their white grapes, but they're mostly done, and the season is winding down in Coachella.” He noted that this year's harvest in the Central Valley got off to a quick start, and the grapes they've harvested have found a good reception. Dulcich reported that prices have been in the $20 to $24 per carton range, which he described as higher than normal. Those prices have been welcome, considering the rising input costs growers have had to contend with this year.
“The water situation has really increased our costs; packaging costs more, fertilizer costs more and labor costs have gone up,” noted Dulcich. Last year's crop reached 117 million boxes, and production forecasts suggest this year's volume will be similar to that from the previous season. As far as quality, Dulcich noted that winter frost, high temperatures in early June and continued drought conditions have affected size and coloring of fruit.
“Some fields are producing grapes that don't seem to have the coloring they did in the past, and that might be due to the heat spikes in the beginning of June,” said Dulcich. “Early season varieties are also smaller in size, and I think that's because freezes in December negatively affected the spring growth pattern of vines.”
For more information:
Nick Dulcich
Sunlight International
+1 661 792 6360