With a total value of $656,234,900, the Napa Valley 2013 wine grape crop was 41% higher than the last decade’s average of $464,507,200. While comparable in value for 2012, which was a record-breaking year, the actual production decreased by 4.4%, or 8,000 tons.
Total tonnage from the sprawling 43,568 acres of Napa Valley vines came out to 174,847 tons – a 22.3% increase from the 10-year average of 143,001 tons previously. These figures work out to a little over 4 tons per acre, on average. The median price for Napa Valley wine grapes in 2013 was $3,753 per ton.
To be more specific, Cabernet Sauvignon earned an average of $5,474 per ton with 19,365 fruit-bearing acres. 65,919 tons were harvested which comes out to 3.4 tons per acre. Conversely, the crop resulting from the Cabernet vines was greater than the Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc crops, indicating that the repeated scarcity of these two varietals has diminished.
Chardonnay produced $31,228 tons at $2,469 per ton while Merlot produced 21,038 tons at $2,771 per ton. 3/4 of the overall production income consisted of Cabernet, Merlot and Chardonnay and 2/3 of the tonnage. Other popular varietals produced in Napa Valley include Zinfandel and Sauvignon Blanc.
While the wine grape crop dominates the agricultural market in Napa Valley, livestock produced $2,204,800 in income, floral/nursery came in at $2,061,400, field crops at $495,000, vegetable crops at $451,700, poultry/animal products at $352,000, olives at $228,400 and fruit/nut crops produced $149,300 in income.
The results for the wine grape crop production for 2014 should be interesting considering the extremely dry winter and repeated, scorchingly hot days. Did these weather patterns adversely affect the crops to the point where tonnage and actual income will drop considerably? Check back once the figures are in at this time next year!
