After eight days of nonstop rain and with so much of the Atlanta area flooded, I wondered what the storms have meant for North Georgia's wineries. For a front line report I checked in with three winery owners: Craig Kritzer, David Harris and Mary Ann Hardman.Craig Kritzer, Frogtown Cellars in Dahlonga"Frogtown is harvesting, as I respond to you," reported Kritzer at 6:30 p.m. on September 21. "We were fortunate to have harvested over 70 percent of our fruit before the last seven days of rain." In fact, the day before the rains started, Frogtown Cellars had harvested 30 tons of fruit that was then processed over the next two days. "We could not harvest more because we were out of harvest bins," explained Kritzer."As a result of our decision to take fruit earlier than we have in the past," he said, "I would say the weather will have an impact, but not anywhere like 2007." (That year, temperatures dropped to the low 20s for three Spring days and killed over 80 percent of the fruit.) Kritzer is very upbeat about the vintage 2009 fruit already fermenting in his winery: "The best sanigovese, marsanne, and roussanne we have ever harvested has come in this 2009 vintage," he said. "I think the cabernet franc, merlot, chardonnay, seyval blanc, vidal blanc, petit verdot, muscato, touriga and tannat harvested before the rain will all produce quality Frogtown wine; with very little being declassified to our second label, Thirteenth Colony. The vast majority of the fruit on the vine as of today is cabernet sauvignon and norton." Though he predicts that the rain will have a minimal impact on the norton, his attitude toward the cabernet is, "we will have to see how it comes in and how it performs in tank."David Harris, Blackstock Vineyards in Dahlonega"The rain, of course, is why I bought all these steep slopes," said Harris, who has already harvested approximately 60 percent of his crop. He's pleased with his 2009 grape quality and yield with chardonnay, viognier, touriga as well as some sangiovese and some merlot. "Cabernet is not ready," he said, and the rain has caused that grape to suffer some damage in terms of quantity. "What is left may be salvaged with high quality, if the weather turns back dry," he said. "Same for what is left of the merlot. What is left of our sangiovese and much of our mourvedre is less fortunate, having taken a bigger hit on breakdown.""We are very definitely taking a heart-breaking quantity hit, but still questionable if it will mean a quality impact," said Harris, adding that he is very thankful he "neglectfully" hadn't picked grapes planned for his "white merlot": "I definitely have a nice 'diluted' candidate for that now, but it shouldn't hurt the quality of our blush wine." Picking low-quality fruit on a "rescue" mission hasn't even been an option for him because of the non-stop rain. "But we can still get some significant quality if it would dry out to typical fall weather and we leave some things to mid-late October which is our typical dates for wrapping the harvest up," says Harris. "Right now, I'm planning for the worst and hoping for the best."Mary Ann Hardman, Persimmon Creek Vineyards in ClaytonAt Persimmon Creek Vineyards, harvest hasn't yet started. "Our Cabernet Franc and Merlot grapes usually hang on the vines until late October and early November," said Hardman. "We are letting them hang throughout the rain, as we have another month before we usually harvest. The sun will hopefully shine again before the month's out! This is the old European way of the vigneron (wine grower)...figuratively and literally wading through the whimsicalities, curve balls of nature.""I think it is important to remember that wine is not made 'labelled, capsuled, corked on the vine,'" says Hardman. "Mother Nature has everything to do with the vintage--wine truly is a savor of the earth. Real wine is not made in a facility; it is a product of the earth, terre, soil. That connection to the earth is truly what gives wine character."The bottom line: Despite heavy harvest-season rains, three North Georgia winery owners speak with optimism about their 2009 vintages. Cabernet grapes may suffer the hardest hit.
