Fickle weather shaping grapes

A long, cool spring and spotty summer have left Eastern Washington winemakers and grape growers watching the skies, praying for fair weather.

In spite of an erratic growing season, the next four weeks could produce a solid crop, wine industry-watchers say.

“Is this going to be a bad year? I don’t think so. The weather over the next two weeks will decide,” said Mark Rogers, marketing director for Spokane’s Arbor Crest Wine Cellars.

Eastern Washington vintners say they’ve learned to expect an off year roughly once every seven years.

Michael Haig, who runs Whitestone Vineyard and Winery, based in Spokane, said he’ll probably have a crop 20 percent smaller than last year. That shortfall means he’ll produce fewer cases of wine, and make a little less money. But it won’t affect the price of bottles on the shelf, he said.

In Western Oregon, growers say they’re pruning fruit clusters to hurry the ripening of remaining grapes, hoping to harvest a crop before the rainy season hits.

Thinning the fields has been happening at nearly all of Eastern Washington’s vineyards this year as well, said Dave Harvey, a winemaker for Spokane-based Townshend Cellars.

But even if area vineyards see a cooling trend, the 2010 crop can still produce quality wines, Haig said.

He expects grapes grown on Whitestone’s 16 acres, along Lake Roosevelt, to have less sugar and a lower alcohol content.

“That will leave them less fruity and with more earth flavors in them,” he said.

That flavor “profile” is increasingly popular among wine enthusiasts, especially those who favor European varieties, Harvey said.

Harvey said the harvest in the Walla Walla and Columbia Valley regions is one to two weeks behind schedule.

The drop in production has no direct impact on the prices winemakers pay for grapes, Harvey said. Nearly every winery signs contracts ahead of time for the grapes they need.

“Only if the quality of the grapes drops, then you can renegotiate the terms,” he said.

Townshend Cellars, now also producing wines for Caterina and Lone Canary wineries, will create at least 25 white and red wines from the 2010 crop. The whites will hit the shelves within 12 months of being bottled; the reds will take two to five years, said Harvey.

The overall Townshend production will be slightly down, but the consumer won’t see much of an impact, he added.

“Except for some specific wines which will be in smaller quantities, consumers won’t see any real effect of this year’s crop,” Harvey said.