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2007 will test winemakers’ creativity at sourcing and blending
• by Glenn Bardgett • Photo by Josh Monken
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It’s been a wild spring, one that came in like a lamb and went out like a lion. Between March 21 and April 9, our region experienced both near-record heat and record cold for the 118 years the National Weather Service has been recording temperatures. The resulting damage to regional crops was severe.
Grapevines were among the hardest hit. A survey of Missouri’s vineyards conducted by Dr. Keith Striegler, director and viticulture program leader for the Institute for Continental Climate Viticulture and Enology, concluded that the statewide 95 percent potential reduction in grape harvest had created the possibility of a non-vintage in Missouri for 2007. Although nearly all the primary and many of the secondary buds were frozen, “they’re looking a little better than they did, so we’re hopeful,” said Jim Anderson, executive director of the Missouri Wine and Grape Board. “We’re getting a better handle now that we may have some type of crop.” But it will most likely be a small crop of unknown quality – and wineries can’t wait too long to make decisions about maintaining the viability of their operations. What are wineries going to do?
Obviously, they need grape juice to stay in business. And with such severe damage, the only possibility for production will be to make wines from fruit grown outside the state of Missouri. While this sounds like a viable alternative, vineyards in many other states suffered the same fate as the ones in our region; the weather patterns that destroyed our buds also affected Illinois, Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina, Texas, Arkansas and parts of Virginia and Georgia. Michigan, Ohio and New York – states that grow grapes similar to the varieties grown in Missouri and Illinois – had minimal or no losses, but it’s unlikely the market will be able to supply the dozens of wineries in the states affected by the freeze.
Missouri wineries will have to decide whether or not to buy grapes from the West Coast – which produces varieties that are totally different from those grown in our region. (A move by state agencies has given wineries a break, allowing them to buy up to 95 percent of their grapes and juice from other states in 2007.) At a meeting of the Missouri Wine and Grape Board in Jefferson City in April, several winery owners and managers expressed initial thoughts. Jon Held, general manager of Stone Hill Winery in Hermann, said, “We produce a lot of Norton and will have to change a few blends to keep up our Norton production.”
By using a native European grape species, or vinifera, from California instead of a Missouri Norton, winemakers can probably maintain the character in a bottle of Concord, Catawba or even many of the lovely blends produced in the Midwest region. The most noticeable change will be the labeling, which will change from “Missouri wine” to “American wine.” To be labeled a Missouri wine, a vintage must be produced from a minimum of 75 percent Missouri fruit; in 2007, this is just not a likely situation.
But using non-Missouri fruit isn’t unheard of here; in fact, it’s a regular practice for some wineries, often with excellent results. Much of the wine from St. James Winery is currently being made from fruit sourced from other states (it has satellite vineyards in Arkansas and Michigan), as is the situation with the Les Bourgeois Winery in Rocheport, which makes several delicious blends using local and out-of-state juice. Cory Bomgaars, Les Bourgeois’ winemaker, said that he feels that he will be able to manipulate the vintage to keep up production.
When Crown Valley Winery in Ste. Genevieve began producing wine several years ago, it used mostly vinifera from the West Coast. The winery has bought significantly less out-of-state fruit every year, but this year will force the winemakers to renew their relationships with California growers to supply their needs. “We have always made a lot of wine from California juice and will make it through this year by doing the same,” said operations manager Bryan Siddle.
After tasting a truly amazing estate-grown Cabernet Sauvignon from Mount Pleasant Winery’s Church Vineyard, I asked winery president Chuck Dressel, whose family owns Mount Pleasant, how the vinifera made it through the cold. He said that although the winery no longer covers the vines with protective pads (as it did for many years), he had a positive outlook about this year’s vintage. He noted that the lost buds and forced lower production might actually produce a small crop of very high quality, depending on the weather between now and the fall harvest.
Whatever happens in our area this year, whether wineries use a small amount of local fruit, Eastern grapes from varieties similar to ours or West Coast vinifera to add to our blends, 2007 will be a major challenge for our talented winemakers. Which means this is truly a year to greatly support our local vintners.
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