Comments on: Observations on the 2008 Final Grape Crush Report http://www.steveheimoff.com/index.php/2009/03/17/observations-on-the-2008-final-grape-crush-report/ A blog about the world of wine Wed, 08 Feb 2012 21:13:07 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.3 By: Record Northern California 2005 Grape Harvest » winehiker witiculture http://www.steveheimoff.com/index.php/2009/03/17/observations-on-the-2008-final-grape-crush-report/comment-page-1/#comment-4725 Record Northern California 2005 Grape Harvest » winehiker witiculture Sat, 11 Apr 2009 23:13:58 +0000 http://www.steveheimoff.com/?p=2299#comment-4725 [...] Observations on the 2008 Final Grape Crush Report (steveheimoff.com) [...] [...] Observations on the 2008 Final Grape Crush Report (steveheimoff.com) [...]

]]> By: fruit machine fan http://www.steveheimoff.com/index.php/2009/03/17/observations-on-the-2008-final-grape-crush-report/comment-page-1/#comment-4197 fruit machine fan Mon, 23 Mar 2009 09:39:16 +0000 http://www.steveheimoff.com/?p=2299#comment-4197 hey cheers for that... very informative - i've added your blog to my netvibes account - thanks :) hey cheers for that… very informative – i’ve added your blog to my netvibes account – thanks :)

]]> By: steve http://www.steveheimoff.com/index.php/2009/03/17/observations-on-the-2008-final-grape-crush-report/comment-page-1/#comment-4099 steve Wed, 18 Mar 2009 16:25:44 +0000 http://www.steveheimoff.com/?p=2299#comment-4099 Larry: Agree that the devil is in the details when it comes to crush reports. But they do provide an interesting macro view of things. Larry: Agree that the devil is in the details when it comes to crush reports. But they do provide an interesting macro view of things.

]]> By: Gregorio http://www.steveheimoff.com/index.php/2009/03/17/observations-on-the-2008-final-grape-crush-report/comment-page-1/#comment-4098 Gregorio Wed, 18 Mar 2009 16:19:53 +0000 http://www.steveheimoff.com/?p=2299#comment-4098 very interesting prices up in RRV, will be very interested to see if these "wineries' paying this price can actually pay for their grapes when the invoices go out... very interesting prices up in RRV, will be very interested to see if these “wineries’ paying this price can actually pay for their grapes when the invoices go out…

]]> By: Larry Stanton http://www.steveheimoff.com/index.php/2009/03/17/observations-on-the-2008-final-grape-crush-report/comment-page-1/#comment-4097 Larry Stanton Wed, 18 Mar 2009 15:33:10 +0000 http://www.steveheimoff.com/?p=2299#comment-4097 Altho I tend to be a lumper, that is a bit difficult when looking at grape crush reports. Just as individual vineyards may have totally different microclimates from a vineyard two hills over, price of grapes/Ton has to be split up, if nothing else, between high end(low yield tonnages/acre) and lower end (high yield tonnages/acre). There is a grower 50 miles east of Paso Robles who several yrs ago sold his grapes exclusively into the Japanese market, and got only $300/T for his Cab. However, he machine pre-prunes, machine harvests, AND hangs 12(yes, twelve)Tons/acre. He was happy as a clam with that in that his per acre costs ran only about half that. We, and many folks around us, in the Templeton Gap area of southern Paso Robles AVA hang Cab between 1-2.5 Tons/acre, and garner $3100/T for Cab and up. Pinot in the cool to cold valleys of the Templeton Gap last yr sold from between $3000 to $3500/Ton, and in south county SLO, I heard of $4000 to $4500/ Ton(tho this is not first hand knowledge). So not only location, but also grower mentality(ie, high yield vs low) plays a big part in this. That is what makes the crush totals so tough to interpret. Frankly, it would be very helpful if the crush totals broke down the yields into under 3T/acre vs over 3T/acre. Some of us nutty people hang 1-2.5 T/acre, but that is where great wines come from. Real terroir, incidentally, generally tends to be found in the lower yielding vineyards. Obviously this is a generality, but it holds pretty much true. Also factored in would have to be the high density plantings, eg, 2300 vines/ acre vs 870 on a traditional 5X10 planting. Here, lbs of fruit/vine would make a lot more sense to quantify, in that some vines may only have a handful of clusters/vine. Crush stats do have their value, but one does have to know what exactly all the parameters are...which in some cases may skew the information so that it doesn't make sense. Altho I tend to be a lumper, that is a bit difficult when looking at grape crush reports. Just as individual vineyards may have totally different microclimates from a vineyard two hills over, price of grapes/Ton has to be split up, if nothing else, between high end(low yield tonnages/acre) and lower end (high yield tonnages/acre). There is a grower 50 miles east of Paso Robles who several yrs ago sold his grapes exclusively into the Japanese market, and got only $300/T for his Cab. However, he machine pre-prunes, machine harvests, AND hangs 12(yes, twelve)Tons/acre. He was happy as a clam with that in that his per acre costs ran only about half that. We, and many folks around us, in the Templeton Gap area of southern Paso Robles AVA hang Cab between 1-2.5 Tons/acre, and garner $3100/T for Cab and up. Pinot in the cool to cold valleys of the Templeton Gap last yr sold from between $3000 to $3500/Ton, and in south county SLO, I heard of $4000 to $4500/ Ton(tho this is not first hand knowledge).

So not only location, but also grower mentality(ie, high yield vs low) plays a big part in this. That is what makes the crush totals so tough to interpret. Frankly, it would be very helpful if the crush totals broke down the yields into under 3T/acre vs over 3T/acre. Some of us nutty people hang
1-2.5 T/acre, but that is where great wines come from. Real terroir, incidentally, generally tends to be found in the lower yielding vineyards.
Obviously this is a generality, but it holds pretty much true.

Also factored in would have to be the high density plantings, eg, 2300 vines/ acre vs 870 on a traditional 5X10 planting. Here, lbs of fruit/vine would make a lot more sense to quantify, in that some vines may only have a handful of clusters/vine. Crush stats do have their value, but one does have to know what exactly all the parameters are…which in
some cases may skew the information so that it doesn’t make sense.

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