Wineries anticipate a lower harvest

TRI-COUNTY AREA--As August winds to a close and fall settles in, area wineries begin preparing for the annual grape harvest. While it is still a few weeks before many vineyards begin bringing in this year's crop, many have begun anticipating what this year's crop may bring. Assistant Winemaker Brian Barry at Hunt Country Vineyards said last year, they did not start their harvest until Sept. 15. He said this year, they are looking at two weeks past that date to begin their harvest. Barry attributed the later harvest to the recent weather, saying the rain and cool nights has had an adverse effect on the harvest date.
"We were thinking we were pretty good until about mid-June and then the weather just tanked," Barry said. "It's going to be a rough harvest. A lot of wineries source from the same vineyards and the fruit is just not there this year. With all the hail and storms and everything everybody is fighting for the same grapes that don't exist."
Barry said it will be "a very busy but compressed harvest" during the month of October. He said they will most likely work long hours but added it will be over quick. Barry said the cold winter did not affect Hunt Country Vineyards due to their elevation and drainage, but said a lot of their sources along Seneca Lake "got dominated."
Regarding out of state grapes, Barry said they only buy four varieties of grapes from other people, but added he thinks many wineries will be taking advantage of the opportunity. He added with the recent earthquake in Napa Valley, California, it has been a rough year for winemaking.
At Anthony Road Wine Company, owner John Martini said he also anticipates a lighter harvest once they begin.
"We have not begun harvest," Martini said. "We calculate we are several weeks away from starting. We are extremely light relative to last year - probably down 60 percent -- [but] hopefully not."
Martini said winter damaged buds in some varieties and the trunks in others. He added they do not plan to purchase out-of-state fruit, instead cutting back on their sales to other wineries.
"The only time we can predict the harvest is when it is over," Martini said. "We know we are light and late."
Executive Director of the Seneca Lake Wine Trail Paul Thomas said the wineries to the north got hit hardest during the winter, adding there will be some wineries that will see a reduced volume. He said much is still dependent on the next four to six weeks.
"Certainly there are specific micro-climates who will suffer reduced production this year," Thomas said "[...] It is interesting how the winter weather eight months behind harvest can have such an impact on it. The wineries are praying to every deity imaginable we have a nice sunny, dry four to six weeks."
In Schuyler County, the harvest has also yet to occur.
"We are still roughly two to three weeks out," said Vineyard Manager David Stamp of Lakewood Vineyards. "People are going to start around Labor Day. Last year's [harvest] was really big, but it really depends on the varieties this year. We had a little damage from the cold there but the native grapes tend to be . . . a full crop. A lot of the hybrids are looking about normal, and some of the viniferas are going to be in a little tighter supply."
Stamp said the winery had a "decent crop" last year, but added the impact of the particularly cold winter stands a chance of reducing the amount of grapes the winery has in stock. Despite "running tight on a few things," Stamp said there should be no need to purchase out of state grapes to meet their production.
"It's going to deplete everybody's inventories since we don't have the [best] crop this year," Stamp said. "I think in the long run it will even things out a little bit."