19 Jun 2008 |
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Exceptional quality, good volume, later start seen for San Joaquin Valley grapes Almost without exception, growers are expecting good volume and good to exceptional quality. A freeze in late April did diminish the crop somewhat, but while the crops on some vineyards were completely wiped out by the freeze, industrywide the losses are expected to be less than 5 percent. Many growers in the San Joaquin Valley are also involved in earlier desert grape deals, either out of Sonora, Mexico, or out of California's Coachella Valley. Last year, the desert deals ran late, and with the early start of the San Joaquin Valley deal, there was considerable overlap, resulting in a glut of product in the market for the start of the San Joaquin Valley harvest. For the current season, growers expect a much smoother transition. Some expect little if any overlap, and some even anticipate a short gap. "I think there is going to be a gap between the desert and the north," said David Clyde, president of Stevco Inc. in Bakersfield, CA, who was in Coachella selling the company's desert grapes when The Produce News talked to him June 9. The grapes "got started a little early down here" and will be "a little bit later up north. Weather permitting, it might catch up, but right now it does look like there is a little bit of a gap." He expected to start harvesting in Delano around July 10. "Generally speaking, the crop looks very, very good," he said. "It looks like a large crop. It looks like outstanding fruit." Fruit Royale in Delano, CA, expects to start harvesting Flames in the Arvin district about July 7, with Perlettes starting sometime during the same week, according to Louie Galvan, a partner in the company. He does not expect a gap in green varieties, as Sugraones from the desert should continue until Arvin's Perlettes start. But "on the reds, it is a different story," he said. "We don't believe we have enough reds to take us through" to when the Flames were expected to start in Arvin. "The crop looks heavy," Nick Dulcich, a principal in Sunlight International Sales Inc. in Delano, CA, said June 6. "As of now, it looks like vintage quality. ... We haven't had any rain on this fruit, so that is a good sign." The weather has been good for the crop so far, he added. "It was a good winter [with] good chilling hours. The spring was nice, and there was a good bud break. The fruit looks very nice. ... Everything looks vintage." "We are a little bit behind this year up north in ... the early San Joaquin Valley deal," both based on a normal year and "in relation to the Mexico and Coachella deals" which were earlier this year than in 2007, said Tony Fazio, president of Fazio Marketing Inc. in Fresno, CA, who was also busy selling Coachella grapes on June 6. "We expect to get a very few Flames going the week of the Fourth of July," with volume coming on "much stronger" over the next two weeks, he said. The fruit in the San Joaquin Valley looks beautiful with "very nice bunch structures," he said. The bunches are "well formed" with "nice big shoulders" and "uniform berries." It looks to be some of the better quality he has seen in many years, Mr. Fazio said. The weather has been "extremely cooperative," he added. "This is just optimum growing conditions for the grapes, with warm days and cool evenings." "Fruit quality is very nice" with "very uniform bunches," said Tom Avinelis, chief executive officer of Homegrown Organic Farms in Porterville, CA. Except for minor losses from freeze damage, "at this point I am extremely happy with the uniformity of the crop set and growth and development of the fruit. Yields look very good." The timing is "about a week behind our normal start dates," he said. "We are thinking [the start] is going to be just after the Fourth of July," said Rick Paul, grape category manager at Sun World International LLC in Bakersfield, CA. But "a little later is not a horrible thing. Last year we were extremely early, and Mexico and Coachella were late, and that caused a little logjam at the start of the deal. We'd just as soon not repeat that." In spite of some losses from the freeze, "it still looks like we will have a very good size crop, and the quality looks to be good," he said. "I don't know what normal is, but ... we are probably about a good five to seven days later than last year," said John Harley, sales manager at Anthony Vineyards Inc. in Bakersfield, CA. The company is projecting a starting date of July 7 for Flames. "I've got a feeling this year is probably normal, where previous years have been early," he said. "We are projected to finish our harvest in Coachella" around July 4-5, which should make for a "seamless" transition, he said. "We have a very good crop of grapes," from the earliest varieties "into our late grapes," said Mike Binn, sales manager at Columbine Vineyards in Delano. "We have good bunch formation. ... We have some nice loose bunches in about every variety." There is "a tremendous amount of interest already" in the early San Joaquin Valley crop from customers who are wanting to know when the deal will get started, Mr. Binn said. "We are starting to get a lot of calls," from both domestic and export customers. (For more on the early San Joaquin Valley grape deal, see the June 23 issue of The Produce News.)
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