US: Wineries scrambling to make room for upcoming harvest

(PressDemocrat) -   As the summer days stretch long and hot, and grapes thicken with sugar on the vine, wineries are clamoring to ensure they'll have enough space in tanks and barrels to fit the fruits of an early harvest. 

Growers anticipate the grapes will be ready for picking two to three weeks earlier than usual, and many are expecting the size of the harvest will be average or larger. 

That has some wineries scrambling to add capacity in their storage rooms, or to book additional space in the custom crush facilities that dot Wine Country. 

“There's a couple of wineries out there that are trying to put in new tanks, and they're rushing, and we've got people trying to put in new storage, and they're rushing,” said Glenn Proctor, partner and broker in the San Rafael office of Ciatti Company, a wine and grape brokerage. “And complicating things and making it more interesting, is this looks like it will be a relatively early harvest.” 

Finding the space to crush the grapes and turn them into wine was a challenge in 2012, when a record crop sent more than 267,000 tons of grapes from Sonoma County vineyards into the wineries. Some of those wines are still aging in tanks and barrels, and have yet to find their way into bottles.

Major companies like E&J Gallo and Constellation Brands are expanding their cooperage capabilities by adding barrels or tanks, said Brian Clements, vice president of Turrentine Brokerage. Wineries that don't have enough room in their own facilities also turn to custom crush facilities that handle the winemaking process, but they're running out of time to line up the dwindling available space.