Rain Shower Wasn’t Enough For Soledad Vineyards

The Central Coast saw a good, solid rain shower on Sunday. It may have put a damper on some Super Bowl party plans, but it was certainly appreciated by those in the agriculture industry.

Still, farmers told Central Coast News the rain wasn’t enough to make a huge impact.

The rainy season is almost halfway through, yet only a half an inch of rain has fallen on vineyards in Soledad.

On Monday, no relief came down.

“Our rainy season is 13 inches,” said Davis Tonus, director of hospitality of Hahn Estate Winery. “We need a lot of rain.”

Tonus said the little rain on Sunday only settled the dust.

“The grapes are a little confused. They think it’s time to start growing, and that’s worrisome. If it stays cool and wet and doesn’t get really cold they’ll slow down,” he said.

And if it gets warm real quick, the grapes will start to grow too quickly. With the shoots out, the cold snap can come in and ruin the crop.

“We need it to stay cool, not cold. And we need it to stay wet,” Tonus said.

Jason Smith, owner and president of Paraiso Vineyards, said the lack of rain could impact the health of next year’s vines. He’s hoping for more rainfall to flush out the root zone of built-up salts from over the years.

“It’s going to affect all of us because if other people in the state are losing crops, or aren’t able to water a lot, it’s going to change the market, change what actually is being produced on the vine and will affect the whole overall industry,” Smith said.

Some grape growers in California may reduce the number of crops they plant due to the drought. Other farmers may leave their land uncultivated.

“We need a storm like we had about every three to four days, so that should get us closer to the 13 or 14 inches that we normally get a year,” Tonus said.

Hahn Estate Winery was hit with similar weather conditions back in 2011. It was so bad that because of a late freeze, it lost about half of its crop.

Grape growers hope the lack of rain won’t put them over the top, but so far, it’s not looking good.