Central Texas grape harvest avoids full wrath of drought

While many farmers and ranchers around the state have been burned by the combination of extreme heat and a dry summer, some Central Texas vineyard owners said their grape vines are fine.

Normally this time of year, June Ritterbusch would be preparing to harvest the grapes at her vineyard in Salado. The grapes she picks are made into wine, sold at the Salado Wine Seller. But this summer the grapes ripened a little quicker than normal due to the extreme heat, which meant picking them two weeks ahead of schedule. The effects of the triple digit temperatures can also be seen in the grapes themselves. “You could pick a certain weight of grapes, but when you go to make the wine there’s not as much liquid in them,” she said.

Less water in the fruit means there is less quantity, but it also makes for a more concentrated flavor in the grapes. While vineyards like hers were able to avoid the direct effects by the drought because they use an irrigation system, they were not able to avoid the indirect effects.

Jon Moore owns the Salado Creek Winery and Vineyard just down the street. Because it was so dry this year, he said the nets they use to normally protect their crop from birds and other wildlife were not as effective. “The rodents and the birds really got after us hard,” he said. So much so that he is now looking into beefing up protection next year through the use of technology which emits distress signals.

According to Moore, the impact of the heat is more apparent in the vines rather than the grapes. He said the new shoots coming out of the vines are quickly drying up, which could potentially impact vine growth next year.