Wine Grape Harvest Pt 2
With today's Fruit Grower Report, I'm Bob Larson. On paper, an extremely wet fall, followed by a colder than average winter, a cool spring and a long, hot summer could have been tough on the 2017 Walla Walla Valley wine grapes ...
MAGNAGHI ... "For the most part, it seemed like everybody was on top of things and I didn't hear of any real train wrecks this year, but once it got hot and we shut the vines down, it was kind of smooth sailing from then on. It cooled off at harvest and so everything was able to get it when we wanted to and didn't have any problems. So, once we got through the winter and the spring it was a pretty good deal. But, yeah, it was definitely a challenging beginning to the season last year."
Viticulturalist, Jason Magnaghi, with Figgins Family Estates, says everything ran like clockwork ...
MAGNAGHI ... "We were able to get everything at physiological ripeness with the flavor profile we wanted with the numbers that we wanted. Yeah, we didn't have to pick anything early or later than we wanted to because we didn't have tank space. It was a really, it was one of the most uniform harvest that I can remember."
Magnaghi says they've had a pretty good run ...
MAGNAGHI ... "Just looking forward to the release of the '15's and '16's that are coming out any time now and waiting on development of the '17's. But, yeah, we're really excited about the new wines that are going to be released here in the next several months. The '15's and '16's are phenomenal as well."
Magnaghi says 2017, with high acids, looks to be a vintage with excellent aging potential.
BL: Welcome back to "Fruit Bites" brought to you by Valent U.S.A. Joining me again is Valent's Allison Walston and this week, we're talking popular apple varieties. So, Allison, what new varieties are gaining traction or might be on the horizon?
AW: Have you heard about the Cosmic Crisp apple?
BL: Well yes I have, but please, tell us more!
AW: Washington State University started developing the Cosmic Crisp apple back in 1998! It is a cross between an Enterprise and a Honeycrisp. The Cosmic Crisp website says "The "Cosmic" ... name was developed because of the "striking" lenticels on the apple surface... [that] look like starbursts ... "Crisp" ... links to its parent, 'Honeycrisp'." It's expected that nearly 5 million trees will be planted in 2018 ALONE putting estimates at 11 million trees in 3 years in Washington. The consumer expectation for taste is supposed to be "other worldly". Such excitement for an apple! Large, juicy, exceptional flavor and slowness to brown after cutting. The apples should be available for purchase in 2019.
BL: Thanks Allison. Join us for another Fruit Bites every Tuesday and Thursday. Until then, I'm Bob Larson.
