Bud Break Spreads Up the West Coast

(Wines&Vines) - Each year, grapegrowers wait anxiously for bud break, but they’re always a little nervous when it occurs, for then the tender buds are highly susceptible to frost and even rain and hail damage. This week Wines & Vines surveyed growers from the Central Coast to the Pacific Northwest to see where they stand.

Central Coast

Starting with the Santa Barbara area in the south, Dana Merrill of Mesa Vineyard Management said that Santa Maria and Los Alamos had strong bud break for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Most vines currently have a few inches of new growth.

Christopher Taranto, the communications director of the Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance reported an average bud break with early varieties out. Chardonnay and some of the white Rhône varieties have been out anywhere from one week to 10 days. The later-to-bud varieties and those pruned late for better management have not broken yet. Depending on the weather it’s possible that the remaining varieties could be out in another week, he said, though it’s still too early to forecast crop potential.