The frost took its toll on many of the Arizona Grape growers this year. Especially on the sites where there were not enough resources available to fight back. Some crops were devastated. Meaning they’ll have no fruit for 2010. That sucks for the Arizona wine community. We’re on a roll and that’s the last thing we needed.
However, there’s a silver lining. On one of my sites that was wiped out by the first round of frost, the plants have pushed secondary shoots which are fully developed. Some clones and varietals can’t bounce back that quickly, but this one is solid. This experience will help us make decisions on what to plant in problem areas. It appears we’re always going to have this issue coming up. So we’ll need to plan for it at every stage, every level. Site, Varietal, Form of Protection, Alert Systems, etc. We’re well on our way, but there’s still much to discover.