Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
per ton here is ten to fifteen times the average for winegrapes in the
southern San Joaquin Valley.
4
California winegrape growers in general knew that they could make
more money by producing fewer grapes if they could sell them at a pre-
mium, but as consumer demand drove wine prices ever higher, a few
regions organized themselves to capture economic opportunities in the
intermediate segments of the wine market. The efforts by the Lodi region
grape growers make even more sense in this light. Throughout its first
hundred years of winegrape production (1880s-1980s), Lodi winegrape
growers grew the same grape varietals as their highly productive neigh-
bors to the south, and judged their crop by the same criteria: on a
tons/acre basis. Lodi wines were unremarkable and undifferentiated.
They had no reputation, so wineries did not place the Lodi name on their
bottles.
As the 1990s began, growers in the Lodi region faced a decision. They
could try to follow behind Napa as it climbed the quality ladder. This
would entail risk as they grafted over their vines to better wine varietals
and tried to improve the quality of their grapes. But continuing down the
path of growing undifferentiated, unremarkable winegrapes entailed
risks as well, since their production costs were high and getting higher,
and winegrape growers from other countries with lower production
costs were aiming at mid-level price points. Other California winegrape
growing regions also had an eye to follow Napa. As the Lodi grower
Randy Lange put it, “it was eat or get eaten.”
The Lodi Woodbridge Winegrape Commission and its member grow-
ers have done a remarkable job of adding value to its winegrape crop.
The annual average price per ton in the district, roughly twice that of its
down-valley neighbors, only tells a part of the story. Since the launching
of the commission, the district's winegrape acreage has doubled to
80,000 acres while the number of growers has only grown by 18 percent.
The number of wineries in the district has grown from eight to fifty. The
number of wines with Lodi on the label has jumped from four to 150.
Large wine corporations, including Mondavi, Gallo, and Canandaigua,
buy about 70 percent of Lodi's grapes, and they are putting the Lodi
name on their labels and charging more money for these wines. The
other 30 percent of the grapes are going to smaller wineries, many of
which now pay more for Lodi grapes. Lodi growers are finding it easier
