Local grape crop ripe for strong season

Sep. 22—OLD MISSION — It's been a touch-and-go growing season for Northwest Michigan's grape crop — challenged by weeks of smokey skies over the region and an early September deluge of rainfall.

But all's well that ends well, and vintners across the Old Mission and Leelanau peninsulas are cautiously optimistic about the area's grape harvest that will begin next week with some early-season varieties, and continue over the next six weeks.

"It looks like a good, normal quality year like we always hope to achieve," said Eddie O'Keefe, President of Chateau Grand Traverse on the Old Mission Peninsula that will celebrate its 50th year of operations next year. "Normal is always a good thing, because that's what we plan for."

O'Keefe said the growing season got off to a good start thanks to a warm, mostly dry spring that produced a "bud break" — the annual beginning growth cycle of grape vines — about two weeks earlier than normal. But the growing season was stunted by weeks of smoke and haze that lingered over much of Michigan mid-summer from raging Canadian wildfires. The hazy conditions robbed the fruit of the necessary degree days of heat and reduced the photosynthesis of the fruit which is key to reaching its proper sugar levels. Air quality levels eventually improved and O'Keefe said it didn't create any long-term damage to the fruit development, which is still running about a week ahead of its normal schedule.

Mother Nature dealt area vintners another challenge with soaking rains that drenched the region the first week of September. The tropical downpours dumped almost five inches of rain on parts of the Old Mission peninsula — and close to six inches in some areas of Leelanau — representing more than 20 percent of the area's yearly rainfall in less than a day.

"We had all that rain, and we were starting to see a little degradation to the crop," said Lee Lutes, the long-time winemaker at Black Star Farms which has vineyards both on Old Mission and in Leelanau County. "Fortunately the fruit was a little more advanced — but if that rain would have continued for another week, it could have been devastating."

Lutes said the heavy rains weren't as damaging as they could have been as they were followed by several days of cooler weather which kept humidity levels down to prevent mildew and other forms of vine damage from developing. As September continued, the weather dried out and temperatures climbed back into the 70s — and into the 80s a few days — as the grapes neared maturation, turning an iffy growing season into a potentially very good one.

There's also plenty of labor that goes into grape development, Lutes noted. Farm managers spend numerous days over the summer months trimming and thinning in the "fruit zone" of the vines to ensure optimum air flow around the grapes to prevent mold and other disease from taking hold.

"It's really the key to success," he said. "It's so much a factor in maintaining good, healthy fruit."

Beyond the fruit quality, grape yields are also running slightly above normal this season, growers said. O'Keefe's vineyards at Chateau Grand Traverse typically produce about 600 tons of grapes in a growing season, and he's projecting around 615 tons this season. While tonnage depends of the type of grapes being grown, O'Keefe said 3-4 tons of grapes per acre is a typical yield.

Chris Baldyga, owner and general manager of 2 Lads Winery in Peninsula Township, also projects a "slightly above average" harvest yield this year. 2 Lads has 23 acres of vineyards around its winery on Smokey Hollow Road, and operates another 17 acres around the peninsula on contract.

"So far, I'm pretty excited about where we're headed this year," said Baldyga, who also serves as president of the Old Mission Peninsula Wine Trail which represents 10 wineries on the peninsula.

Nikki Rothwell, an extension specialist and coordinator of the Northwest Michigan Horticultural Research Center in Leelanau County, said the quality of this year's grape crop is reflective of most of this year's fruit crops in the region, including the summer cherry crop and the apple harvest which is just underway.

"We've had excellent quality for all our fruit crops this year," Rothwell said. "It's been a very good growing season so far."

Michigan boasts approximately 3,375 acres of wine grape vineyards, according to the most-recent survey from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Other grape-growing areas of the state have also experienced good growing conditions for most of the year, reported Janelle Jagmin who manages the Michigan Craft Beverage Council in the state agriculture department.

"Overall the wine grape harvest in Michigan is looking really good," Jagmin said. Some grape varieties in Southeast Michigan and the Tip of the Mitt region were impacted by frost and other challenging weather conditions. "Although this will affect some yields, it's reported that the quality of the grapes is fantastic," she added.

The grape harvest in Southeast Michigan is nearly complete, and is just getting started in the southwest part of the state.

"Albeit early, the harvest quality and yields in Southwest Michigan are on track for a good year," Jagmin said.

Locally, winemakers are keeping their fingers crossed that the recent stretch of warm, dry weather continues. Sunny skies and temperatures in the mid-70s are forecast through this week, which should just about get this year's local grape crop over the finish line.

"As long as we don't rain ourselves out through the end of the season, we should be in for classic harvest," Baldyga said.