Not a good sign for Fall prices but it's encouraging to see wine making become more popular. I have heard that Chilean grapes are going to be difficult to come by if you didn't pre-order. I copied and pasted the press release below from M and M in Hartford.
Fall Harvest Prospectus
Dear Wine Grape Buyer,
Here we are in March. For many of us, we are still steering our wines from this past fall towards their greatest possible potential. For others, thoughts of the upcoming Chilean season has them contemplating just how much space there is in the cellar to accommodate that spring wine and maybe another tank or barrel might be in order.
Unless you are a winery or M&M Wine Grape Co., the thought of the fall 2012 harvest likely lingers off in the distance. Likewise, normally we would not be taking this time to form a communication regarding this upcoming Fall season. Yet, we are receiving significant information that warrants our communicating what we believe may be unprecedented demand within the grape market and a multi-year trend ahead of us.
What we are bracing for in 2012 (and saw in 2011) has been in the making for some time. Several years ago, the wine grape market was upside-down. Growers had more grapes in tonnage and acreage than wineries had interest. Wineries pulled back on contracts leaving growers with significant tonnage and no home for it. In some cases, the grapes simply rotted on the vines. In response, grape growers did a number of things including identifying other markets and reducing their vine acres. It simply did not make fiscal sense to manage more acres than whose yield could be sold.
Enter harvest year 2011. A combination of increased foreign demand and a renewed interest by wineries results in price increases across the board on top varietals such as Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot. Couple this with a low crop set and less than perfect growing and harvest conditions and we see a grape shortage and inflated grape prices. The trouble is that the appetites of those interested parties were not sated. Going into 2012 the response has been that wineries are clamoring for grapes, making generous offers and in some cases are proposing several year contracts.
By now, someone who is reading this as a winery representative outside of California or a home winemaker might be wondering "how this will affect me?". What will this do to availability of grapes and more importantly the price of grapes, juice, and must? You should know that we, at M&M Wine Grape Co., are paying close attention to this situation and are readying our options. For starters, we have already received confirmation through our network of suppliers that there will be wine grapes available through M&M Wine Grape Co. both this spring through our Chilean wine grape program and this fall via our North American/European program. Our network of partners understand that in order to maintain "the bridges" that have been built, options will need to be made available for M&M and its customers. The wine industry is not isolated to California and M&M Wine Grape Co. is a leader in representing the interests of wineries and winemakers outside of California.
As with most products, the Chilean wine grapes have been trending upward in price likely due to the growth of the market and Chile's own winery demand that has not reached balance since the earthquakes in 2010. Even at rates slightly higher than that of 2011, the Chilean grapes remain a good value for the price.
Looking ahead to this fall, it is just too early to say what may or may not happen, though, indicators point to potential shortages and higher prices.
Throughout this year and into the fall harvest we will continue to update you on the state of affairs with wine grapes. We will also do our best to identify some strong buying options that may exist. With a little flexibility, resourcefulness, and some favorable treatment by Mother Nature we will do as we have been doing all along and that is to meet and exceed the needs of our customers.
Nick Coppola
M&M Wine Grape Co.
03/21/2012
Dear Wine Grape Buyer,
Here we are in March. For many of us, we are still steering our wines from this past fall towards their greatest possible potential. For others, thoughts of the upcoming Chilean season has them contemplating just how much space there is in the cellar to accommodate that spring wine and maybe another tank or barrel might be in order.
Unless you are a winery or M&M Wine Grape Co., the thought of the fall 2012 harvest likely lingers off in the distance. Likewise, normally we would not be taking this time to form a communication regarding this upcoming Fall season. Yet, we are receiving significant information that warrants our communicating what we believe may be unprecedented demand within the grape market and a multi-year trend ahead of us.
What we are bracing for in 2012 (and saw in 2011) has been in the making for some time. Several years ago, the wine grape market was upside-down. Growers had more grapes in tonnage and acreage than wineries had interest. Wineries pulled back on contracts leaving growers with significant tonnage and no home for it. In some cases, the grapes simply rotted on the vines. In response, grape growers did a number of things including identifying other markets and reducing their vine acres. It simply did not make fiscal sense to manage more acres than whose yield could be sold.
Enter harvest year 2011. A combination of increased foreign demand and a renewed interest by wineries results in price increases across the board on top varietals such as Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot. Couple this with a low crop set and less than perfect growing and harvest conditions and we see a grape shortage and inflated grape prices. The trouble is that the appetites of those interested parties were not sated. Going into 2012 the response has been that wineries are clamoring for grapes, making generous offers and in some cases are proposing several year contracts.
By now, someone who is reading this as a winery representative outside of California or a home winemaker might be wondering "how this will affect me?". What will this do to availability of grapes and more importantly the price of grapes, juice, and must? You should know that we, at M&M Wine Grape Co., are paying close attention to this situation and are readying our options. For starters, we have already received confirmation through our network of suppliers that there will be wine grapes available through M&M Wine Grape Co. both this spring through our Chilean wine grape program and this fall via our North American/European program. Our network of partners understand that in order to maintain "the bridges" that have been built, options will need to be made available for M&M and its customers. The wine industry is not isolated to California and M&M Wine Grape Co. is a leader in representing the interests of wineries and winemakers outside of California.
As with most products, the Chilean wine grapes have been trending upward in price likely due to the growth of the market and Chile's own winery demand that has not reached balance since the earthquakes in 2010. Even at rates slightly higher than that of 2011, the Chilean grapes remain a good value for the price.
Looking ahead to this fall, it is just too early to say what may or may not happen, though, indicators point to potential shortages and higher prices.
Throughout this year and into the fall harvest we will continue to update you on the state of affairs with wine grapes. We will also do our best to identify some strong buying options that may exist. With a little flexibility, resourcefulness, and some favorable treatment by Mother Nature we will do as we have been doing all along and that is to meet and exceed the needs of our customers.
Nick Coppola
M&M Wine Grape Co.
03/21/2012
