How Vintage Devastation Due to Frost Created a Custom Crush Opportunity

Originally posted on Men's Journal | Last updated 10/6/24

Mother nature is having her way with grape growers in recent years. It manifests in odd weather patterns that bring rain at inopportune times, frost, earthquakes, heat spikes, and lots of inconsistency. Throw the farmer's almanac out the door, because what happened in the past does not necessarily prepare us for what's coming now.

Frost is increasingly becoming a problem, and when it rears its ugly head is more and more hard to navigate. If it comes before flowering, maybe you won't see as big of a problem but the vine itself may have a year's worth of damage. If it comes after flowing and before fruit set, the vineyard runs the risk of what is known as shatter. Ultimately the flowers will not turn into grapes, and it's a massive loss for the grower.

While recently visiting Dominio Fournier, a domaine style winery in Spain's Ribera del Duero region, I learned that spring frost in 2024 resulted in a 90% loss. Read that figure again...90%. What would you do if you made 90% of your salary next year? Would that break you down?

The powerhouse women who run the show at Dominio Fournier put their minds together and realized the 90% loss of fruit created an opportunity: an empty winery. So they put their space to use, and were able to offer their services as a custom crush like we see all over wine regions of California. While it doesn't fully save the 2024 vintage, it does keep people working, the sentiment positive, and it begs a few questions that I had to ask.

How much of your total production for 2024 was lost due to hail?

We lost 90% of our 2024 harvest due to three nights of frost in April 2024 (-3C) and severe hail on May 19th. Cultivation in areas with extreme climates, such as Fournier, run the risk of these disasters. However, we have solid production from previous vintages so we can skip a vintage without affecting availability in the market.

When did the idea to open up the Bodega as a custom crush facility come to mind? • Who are your clients for the custom crush services? Is this likely to help a young aspiring winemaker to create their first wine?

This is the first year we opened the winery to an external company. A friend of the DO needed help and we saw it as an opportunity to keep our facility working around the 2024 vintage.

It is very likely to catch on, how will you handle custom crush requests next year and beyond when yields are back to normal?

At this time, we view it as a one-time situation. We had a low yield and the other company needed help. We view it as a mutual benefit for both parties and hope harvest to be better in the future.

***That said, I was told they are looking into additional winery space, whether that is to expand operations to accommodate more custom crush in the future or for their own use remains to be seen.***

This article first appeared on Men's Journal and was syndicated with permission.

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