Real Women Drink Wine: Temecula Valley Quality Grape Harvest

High Quality Harvest in Temecula Valley

The 2008 grape harvest in Temecula Valley Wine Country is lighter in volume but better in quality, local winemakers said.

"This could be just a record year for us in terms of quality," said Ray Falkner, president of the Temecula Valley Winegrowers Association.

This week marks the home stretch for the harvest, which began in August. According to the association, Wine Country wineries and grape growers harvest about 10,000 tons of grapes a year, the equivalent of 1,666 average-sized adult elephants.

….So far, harvesters are seeing slight declines in certain grape varieties. Drake said one block of cabernet grapes that yielded 9 tons last year is producing 2 tons this year. Overall, he estimates he'll harvest about 500 tons of grapes this year, down from 700 in 2007.

Thornton Winery winemaker Don Reha also said he's seeing a drop this year. He attributes the decrease in part to a couple heavy rains in March and April. "Ten minutes of heavy rain can knock off a pretty good portion of (grape) blooms," he said.

This story came from the Press Enterprise and you can read the full article here: article

Stay tuned because I’ll be posting up some interviews I had with the Temecula Valley Quality Wine Alliance and Don Reha in the next several weeks at Calories in Wine.