The Wine Institute

California Winegrowers Crush Record 3.3 Million Tons Of Wine Varieties

SAN FRANCISCO February 9, 2001 - Ideally mild weather in 2000 allowed California winegrowers to harvest and crush a record-setting 3.3 million tons of winegrape varieties last year, according to preliminary statistics issued today by the state's Department of Food and Agriculture. This is up 27 percent over 1999's 2.6 million tons and surpasses the record 2.9 million tons in 1997. The average statewide price for wine varieties was $568.48 per ton, down from $589.82 per ton in 1999.

Red wine varieties advanced 28 percent to 1.8 million tons, while white wine grapes grew 26 percent to --1.5 million tons. Chardonnay was again the leading wine variety crushed, accounting for 20 percent of the wine tons, followed by French Colombard (13 percent), Zinfandel (12 percent), Cabernet Sauvignon (11 percent), and Merlot (9 percent).

The San Joaquin Valley and southern Central Coast have seen the most increase in wine variety tonnage the last decade. Lodi/Woodbridge more than tripled its crush, making the largest gain in wine varieties of any growing district in California, followed by Fresno and San Luis Obispo/Santa Barbara counties.

Yields that were normal to a little above average along with 32,000 new bearing acres that have come into production this year contributed to the record tonnage. The increased grape supply is creating "more competitiveness" at all segments of the market for both wineries and growers, said Bill Turrentine of Turrentine Wine Brokerage. However, the "new plantings that are coming online in California are already starting to produce some remarkable wines because of the use of state-of-the-art viticultural techniques, superior clonal selection and advanced trellising." Turrentine and Barry Bedwell of Joseph W. Ciatti and Co., who were commenting on the market at a recent industry symposium, both agreed that the California wine industry would gain competitive advantage by continuing to improve the efficiency of its production, distribution and finance operations and through creativity in marketing.

2000 California Winegrape Crush by District

(Revised with Final 2000 numbers May 8, 2001)

Source: Wine Institute from California Department of Food and Agriculture

2000 California Winegrape Crush by Variety

(Revised with Final 2000 numbers May 8, 2001)

Selected Red Wine Varieties

(At least 66 red wine varieties were crushed in 2000.)

Selected White Wine Varieties

(At least 39 white wine varieties were crushed in 2000.)

(1) Varieties listed do not reflect a complete rank order of all winegrapes crushed in California.
Source: California Department of Food and Agriculture.

U.S. and California Grape Crush (In millions of tons)

(Revised with Final 2000 numbers May 8, 2001)