It's harvest time in Virginia wine country, and with hot and dry conditions across the state through July and early August, the agriculture community has been projecting low crop yields. But that might be good for Virginia wine.
The take away - 2012 will be a great vintage and the reason is because of those hotter than normal temperatures and drier conditions through the growing season.
However, though most in Virginia have been feeling the heat, some smaller areas have actually received a fair amount of rain, causing some varieties of grapes to stay fairly stable.
"The way the storms have come in and the weather has worked, there have been areas that have received drought and no rain, and areas that have had a lot of rain, and we have been in one of those areas that has had a lot of rain," explained Randy McElroy, the owner of First Colony Winery.
McElroy said he's has had steady rainfall through the summer in his area, but the weather has been so erratic, that other parts of central Virginia are experiencing moderate drought to abnormally dry conditions.
Michael Shaps with Virginia Wineworks says many of his growers across Virginia have definitely felt more of the hotter and drier temperatures.
"The yields are much lower, but the quality is better because we have a little bit more concentrated fruit so it really helps quality," he explained.
But for many other crops in Virginia, the low production levels don't have a brighter side. The soybean crop is projected to be down 14 percent from last year, and the corn crop is also projected to be down 21 percent. Shaps said they will be down 10-20 percent on some of the varieties of grapes, like Viognier. For example, a vineyard he usually receives about 10 tons of Viognier grapes from, was only able to harvest eight tons this year.
"It's tough from a business standpoint because we depend on certain quantities from our contracts with our growers and our land leases that we have around the state and we have certain expectations for production levels," he said. "Obviously, it can drive up prices in terms of the finished wine down the road."
Shaps explained that unlike most crops, for winemakers, a wet summer like the one last year, can actually create a horrible vintage.
"Rain, rain, and more rain. It was the worst season I have seen. Just incredible amounts of rain that really not only diluted everything, but caused a lot of grapes to rot on the vine."
He says from the harvest he has seen so far, "it is night and day" between 2012 and 2011. "Virginia 2012," he said, "has been more of an above average year, so the quality is going to be better than in recent history."
