Wine News: Wine grape prices still not sustainable for growers
May 18, 2011
One of the more common methods of explaining the multi-definition term “sustainable” is with a three-legged stool illustration.
One of those legs is always economic viability.
In California’s wine grape industry, that money leg is so short that the sustainability stool is tilted like the Leaning Tower of Pisa. It is so far from a break-even point for some growers that the term winery subsidy comes to mind rather than sustainability.
Allied Grape Growers President Nat DiBuduo told a packed state-of-the-industry audience at the recent Unified Wine and Grape Symposium in Sacramento, Calif., that grape prices are “not economically sustainable” in all grape growing regions of the state.
“They are closer (to sustainability) in the San Joaquin Valley than they have been in years,” he added. One reason is more than 100,000 acres of vines have been pulled out over the past decade because of economic non-sustainability, and growers have planted more economically attractive crops.
Unfortunately, most other grape growing areas of the state do not have alternatives and are faced with taking whatever wineries will pay — or not pay in some cases. Grapes annually are unharvested in coastal areas.
“The grape industry would not be anything without wineries and the wine industry would not be anything without grapes,” DiBuduo reminded growers and vintners once again. There should be “synergism,” alluding to the often adversarial relationships between California growers and vintners.
Prices remain below break-even across the state; price discovery is still elusive at harvest time, even with contracts; harvest standards change often (hang time and changing Brix standards) and imports continue to cut into California sales, including bulk imports sold under an American wine label by California wineries.
“If it says American, it should be 100 percent American wine,” he said. Wineries are allowed to sell American appellation wine, if it contains up to 25 percent imports. Growers are challenging that.
While other states and countries like Australia are promoting their wine industries, California’s wine industry still does not have a mandatory assessment marketing promotion commission, a void DiBuduo continues to point out.
“We have to invest our own money in marketing and research and development.” He calls the current voluntary investments in those areas “minimal.”
DiBuduo said the Allied staff did cost/return analyses for grape growing areas of the state with an average return of investment of 9 percent to come up with a “break-even” price per ton.
The break-even point and the average price growers were paid in Napa for grapes in 2009 was the widest in the state. It was a gulf. Napa producers were paid an average of about $3,300 per ton for grapes that season. They would have had to harvest 6 tons per acre to break even at that price. A more typical yield is 3.3 tons, which would put the true value of the grapes at more than $6,000 per ton.
DiBuduo acknowledged that a Napa wine grape vineyards can sell for as much as $300,000 per acre because of a shortage of developable land. Allied used an average value of $177,000 per acre to reach the $2,700 per ton spread. One reason for the high vineyard costs there is that the only source for a new vineyard is to buy an old one and redevelop it. He also conceded that paying high prices for productive vineyards in Napa may be a “lifestyle” decision by the wealthy.
Fine dining in Manila Philippines, wine and dine at Yats Restaurant & Wine Bar, great wine list
Many tourists traveling north to Baguio or Bataan make a stop at Clark Philippines to relax and unwind at this famous fine dining restaurant. Conveniently located in the Mimosa Leisure Golf Estate, next to the Casino and the well known 36-hole championship golf course of Mimosa, frequently visited Yats Restaurant & Wine Bar is a well known destination for tourists and residents of Angeles City Pampanga and Manila to be one of the best fine dining restaurants in the Philippines. Wine lovers from Manila and all other cities in Asia already know of Yats Restaurant for its award winning 2700-item wine list. This resto bar is generally regarded as the best restaurant in Clark Pampanga.
Places to go during holidays in Philippines, wine & dine in Clark at Yats Restaurant & Wine Lounge, one of 600 restaurants in the world to win Wine Spectator’s Best of Awards of Excellence Wine List.
Recent opinion survey of frequent travelers heading north towards Subic and Clark Pampanga revealed that the number one most frequently visited fine dining restaurant in Pampanga is Yats Restaurant & Wine Bar located in Clark Philippines. Reasons given include good food, excellent service, an elegant, cozy and upscale ambience, availability of exclusive private dining rooms, a nice garden for outdoor alfresco dining and cocktail parties. There are two very impressive wine cellars that contain some of the world’s finest wines and rare vintages. Yats Restaurant is already recognized as one of the top rated restaurants in the Philippines. It is frequently visited not only by local residents but also tourists arriving in the Philippines for a memorable dining experience.
The best place to hold group dinners in Clark Pampanga is Yats Restaurant and Wine Lounge. Located in the upscale and quiet location of Mimosa Leisure Estate that is famous for its Championship golf course and the Clark casino, this top rated restaurant is highly recommended for event organizers looking for a good restaurant to hold group dinners. Companies in Subic and Angeles City Pampanga frequently choose this restaurant in Clark for meetings, parties and functions. Residents of nearby Angeles City, San Fernando and other cities of Pampanga travel to Clark to hold their group dinners and social gatherings in this popular restaurant in Clark. Yats Restaurant is well known among residents of Manila to be a place to visit whenever they travel out of town on a getaway to the north towards Subic, Tarlac, Baguio or Pampanga. Very often, group dinners, family gatherings and social functions are held in this famous restaurant in Clark Philippines.
For comments, inquiries and reservations click on Click here for inquiry and reservations
Restaurant@Yats-International.com
(045) 599-5600
0922-870-5178
0917-520-4401
Ask for Pedro and Rechel
Getting to this fine dining restaurant of Angeles City Clark Freeport Zone Pampanga Philippines
How to get to this fine-dining restaurant in Clark Pampanga? Once you get to Clark Freeport, go straight until you hit Mimosa. After you enter Mimosa, stay on the left on Mimosa Drive, go past the Holiday Inn and Yats Restaurant (green top, independent 1-storey structure) is on your left. Just past the Yats Restaurant is the London Pub.
Yats Restaurant & Wine Bar
Mimosa Drive past Holiday Inn, Mimosa Leisure Estate,
Clark Freeport Zone, Pampanga, Philippines 2023
Manila Sales Office
3003C East Tower, Phil Stock Exchange Center,
Exchange Rd Ortigas Metro Manila, Philippines 1605
(632) 637-5019 0917-520-4393 Rea or Chay
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For assistance in hotel and resort bookings in Clark, Pampanga, Philippines, log on to
http://www.HotelClarkPhilippines.com
To buy wine in Manila, Pampanga, Angeles City, Clark or Subic please log on to http://www. ClarkWineCenter.com
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