California's 2011 Winegrape Crush Down 7%

By Growing Produce Staff|February 10, 2012

California’s 2011 winegrape crush totaled 3,342,689 tons, down 7% from 2010, according to the official USDA preliminary grape crush report, which was released today. The total grape crush, which includes grapes for concentrate, totaled 3,869,894 tons, down 3% from the 2010 crush of 3,986,314 tons.

Both red and white winegrapes were down by the same percentage. Red wine varieties accounted for the largest share of all grapes crushed, at 1,917,132 tons, down 7% from 2010. The 2011 white wine variety crush totaled 1,425,557 tons, down 7% from 2010. Tons crushed of raisin type varieties totaled 372,551, up 36% from 2010, and tons crushed of table type varieties totaled 154,653, up 25% from 2010.

The 2011 average price per ton of all varieties reached a record high of $588.96, up 8% from 2010 and 3% above the previous record high set in 2009. Average prices for the 2011 crop by type were as follows: red wine grapes, $702.70, up 12% from 2010; white wine grapes, $541.11, up 8% from 2010; raisin grapes, $265.15, up 23%; and table grapes, $219.20, up 26%.

In 2011, Chardonnay accounted for the largest percentage of the total crush volume with 14.4%. Cabernet Sauvignon accounted for the second leading percentage of crush with 9.9% of the total crush. The next eight highest percentages of grapes crushed included wine and raisin grape varieties. Thompson Seedless, the leading raisin grape variety crushed for 2011, held 8.4% of the total.

Grapes produced in District 4 (Napa County) received the highest average price of $3,407.56 per ton, up 5% from 2010. District 3 (Sonoma and Marin counties) received the second highest return of $2,081.12, up 3% from 2010. The 2011 Chardonnay price of $752.30 was up 5% from 2010, and the Cabernet Sauvignon price of $1,147.10 was up 11% from 2010. The 2011 average price for Zinfandel was $559.00, up 26% from 2010, while the Merlot average price was up 13% from 2010 at $691.05 per ton.