Typically in the wine industry, you have one or two out of every seven years where you lose over half your crop. Three to four years out of those seven, you have an average crop level. And one to two years out of every seven you have a bumper crop. That is pretty much the case everywhere in the world. That is why when you look at first growth wineries in Bordeaux you have a couple years out of every decade that are spectacular and the rest you don’t even hear about. While that is true on a regional or AVA basis, for most states it’s true too because the state doesn’t have enough vineyards spread across the state to offset the areas that did poorly.

The point is that when we look across the Southwest states of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Oklahoma and Texas, we can expect that one, possibly two, of the states will have a major crop loss in any given year. We can expect one or two states to have a good or great year, and the rest are in between. Last year Texas had a great year. So far this year is looking even better. If you are in a state that just had a major loss of fruit, your options are

1. Don’t make any wine this year. Meaning, you won’t sell any wine next year.
2. Buy fruit or bulk wine from the west coast.
3. This is only the 2nd time in the last 100 years that this could be said – Buy fruit or quality bulk wine from a neighbor state. This year it’s Texas.

Oklahoma just had a major freeze. It will have a drastic impact on the quality and quantity of fruit produced in the state. Using the average winery in Oklahoma as an example, most customers go to them because they want to buy a local wine. In a year when you don’t have fruit, your customers would still be interested in buying a wine from a nearby state rather than yet another wine from California.

As a winery owner, if you would rather buy grapes or premium bulk wine from Texas, we can help you with that. In addition to the relationships we have with wineries & vineyards in NM, OK, AZ and CO, we have extensive relationships with wineries & vineyards all across the state of Texas.

Premier Wine Blends provides custom solutions for your winery.
Finely crafted wine blends, consulting and
local premium bulk wine sourcing (because you’re not a Napa winery!)