'Rain is our friend': Vineyards among the few industries benefiting from the recent California deluge
Amid loss and heartache across California, vineyard workers say the relentless rain will provide a boost for many grape growers and wineries.
The barrage of storms during the first few weeks of the year has led to widespread destruction across California, with AccuWeather experts estimating damage and economic losses between $31 and $34 billion. However, the recent rains have been a godsend for at least one industry that has suffered from the ongoing drought across the state.
Vineyard owners who have faced challenges not only from ongoing drought but highly active wildfire seasons say the relentless rain will help provide a much-needed boost for grape growers. This boost won't just be of assistance now, but also for the season ahead.
"The more rain we can get in the winter, the more that water is percolating through that soil profile," Jordan Lonborg, a viticulturist at Tablas Creek Vineyard, which is located along the central coast of California, told AccuWeather National Reporter Bill Wadell. "The deeper you get into the ground, the more moisture is retained throughout the growing season."
Jordan Lonborg, a viticulturist at Tablas Creek Vineyard, talks to AccuWeather National Reporter Bill Wadell about the recent rain in California. (AccuWeather National Reporter Bill Wadell)
Lonborg said the rolling hills near Paso Robles, California, a town about 173 miles northeast of Los Angeles, have received more rain this season than they have in the past three years.
"We've already surpassed our rainfall for the winters of 2019-20, 2020-21 and 2021-22," Tablas Creek Vineyard General Manage Jason Haas wrote in a newsletter.
So far, the vineyard has measured 27 inches of rain as of Tuesday afternoon compared to the seasonal average of 26 inches.
"The impacts to this point have been essentially all positive for us," Haas wrote. "The ground is saturated, but we haven't seen either flooding or noteworthy erosion."
Haas explained that the hilly terrain means the vineyard is rather well set up for heavy rainfall events, such as these recent storms. The region's calcareous soil, composed of decomposed limestone and high in calcium carbonate, is "exceptionally porous." This allows massive volumes of water to be transported to deeper layers within the soil before it reaches saturation and flooding occurs. Any excess water flows downstream to fill reservoirs and can be used later.
Part of the vineyard at Tablas Creek. (AccuWeather National Reporter Bill Wadell)
"Lake Nacimiento, into which Las Tablas Creek and the rest of our watershed empties, was up to 747.7 feet as of today, 32 feet higher than it was just over a month ago on December 1st, but despite the billions of additional stored gallons of water, the reservoir is still at just 38% of its capacity," Haas wrote.
Lake San Antonio, also part of the watershed, is only at 13% of its capacity.
Since more than 40% of the vineyard is dry farmed and relies on the soil's residual moisture from the rainy months during the dry season, workers at Tablas Creek say they'll take all the rain they can get through March to help these plants flourish through the summer.
"Rain is our friend, we need it. We need it really badly," Lonborg said. "We've had two really dry years, and we really saw the effect of those dry years on these older vines. Our yields were way down."
In 2021, all 58 counties in California were under a drought emergency proclamation after the water year ended as the second driest on record. At Tablas Creek Vineyard, the grape yield at the end of the 2021 harvest was down nearly 26%.
"Rain is our friend, we need it. We need it really badly," says Jordan Lonborg, a viticulturist at Tablas Creek Vineyard. (AccuWeather National Reporter Bill Wadell)
Drought conditions continue to improve in California through the start of January. As of Jan. 10, less than 1 percent of the state had exceptional drought conditions. Just one week earlier, about 27 percent was dealing with exceptional drought. This past fall, the grape yield at Tablas Vineyard was down just over 8% from 2021.
Despite the losses the past two years have brought, vineyard workers are hopeful that the recent rains are a glimpse into what could be a bountiful year -- both in terms of rain and grape production.
"I'm hoping for a historically wet winter," Haas said. "Something that will replenish our aquifers and reservoirs, delay budbreak to a more normal time frame and set us up for a couple of years."
Want next-level safety, ad-free? Unlock advanced, hyperlocal severe weather alerts when you subscribe to Premium+ on the AccuWeather app.AccuWeather Alerts™ are prompted by our expert meteorologists who monitor and analyze dangerous weather risks 24/7 to keep you and your family safer.
Report a Typo
