California Ag Network

Tag: 2018 California grape crush

  • What Growers Should Know about the Grape Crush

    As many in the industry know, USDA’s 2018 Grape Crush Report was delayed due to the recent government shutdown.  This record breaking crop report was covered in the May issue of American Vineyard Magazine; but we also recently got some special insights on the report along with current wine market trends from Allied Grape Growers President Jeff Bitter.  So check out this brief interview, and if you haven’t already, be sure to read more about the Crush Report in the May issue of American Vineyard Magazine.

  • California Final Grape Crush Report 2018

    The 2018 crush totaled 4,506,583 tons, up 6.2 percent from the 2017 crush of 4,241,945 tons. Red wine varieties accounted for the largest share of all grapes crushed, at 2,447,930 tons, up 8.8 percent from 2017. The 2018 white wine variety crush totaled 1,833,755 tons, up 3.8 percent from 2017. Tons crushed of raisin type varieties totaled 82,508, down 12.5 percent from 2017, and tons crushed of table type varieties totaled 142,391, up 8.0 percent from 2017.

    The 2018 average price of all varieties was $831.63, up 6.8 percent from 2017. Average prices for the 2018 crop by type were as follows: red wine grapes, $1,019.03, up 5.5 percent from 2017; white wine grapes, $634.84, up 8.0 percent from 2017; raisin grapes, $299.48, up 18.4 percent; and table grapes, $192.01, up 7.6 percent.

    Leading Grape Varieties and Districts

    In 2018, Chardonnay continued to account for the largest percentage of the total crush volume with 15.8 percent. Cabernet Sauvignon accounted for the second leading percentage of crush with 15.1 percent. Thompson Seedless, the leading raisin grape variety crushed for 2018, was only 1.5 percent of the total crush.

    District 13, (Madera, Fresno, Alpine, Mono, Inyo Counties; and Kings and Tulare Counties north of Nevada Avenue (Avenue 192)), had the largest share of the State’s crush, at 1,370,068 tons. The average price per ton in District 13 was $318.38.

    Grapes produced in District 4 (Napa County) received the highest average price of $5,571.44 per ton, up 6.6 percent from 2017. District 3 (Sonoma and Marin counties) received the second highest return of $2,817.92, up 0.3 percent from 2017. The 2018 Chardonnay price of $970.76 was up 5.1 percent from 2017, and the Cabernet Sauvignon price of $1,683.25 was up 8.3 percent from 2017. The 2018 average price for Zinfandel was $600.21, up 1.5 percent from 2017, while the Pinot Noir average price was down 0.9 percent from 2017 at $1,674.62 per ton.

    Don’t miss the May issue of American Vineyard Magazine for a full analysis of the 2018 California grape crush.  Click on the image below to view the entire Grape Crush Report from USDA.

  • Grape Crush Report Rescheduled for April 10 Release

    The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) and USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) are rescheduling cooperatively funded reports that were affected by the lapse in federal funding. During the lapse, NASS was not able to collect data nor issue reports, including those funded by state and industry programs.

    The following reports have been rescheduled and others will be announced as soon as they are determined:

    • 2018 California Grape Crush Report will be released Wednesday, April 10, 2019 at Noon Pacific Time, providing that funding remains available for Fiscal Year 2019.
    • There will not be a Grape Crush Preliminary Report this year.
    • 2018 California Grape Acreage Report will be released Friday, April 19, 2019 at Noon Pacific Time, providing that funding remains available for Fiscal Year 2019.

    In order to expedite the rescheduled reports and give producers more time to complete their surveys, NASS requests that anyone who received a survey, please respond as quickly as possible:

    If you have received any of these surveys and have not responded, but no longer have the survey form, please call 800-851-1127 from 7:30 a.m. – 4 p.m. Pacific Time. NASS representatives may call to collect information as well. NASS surveys provide critical data used by numerous different federal, state and local programs that benefit farmers and ranchers.

    These reports will be available in the May issue of American Vineyard Magazine.

  • Thompson Grape Crush: What’s the Future?

    Central Valley Thompson grapes ended up being quite valuable this last harvest, both on the raisin and concentrate side of the business. But as Jeff Bitter from Allied Grape Growers shared in this interview with California Ag Network, both markets can be quite volatile and there are a lot less acres of Thompson Seedless grapes in the ground than there used to be. Check out this interview with Jeff on his insights for the future of the industry and read more about it in American Vineyard Magazine.

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