(Wines&Vines) - Frost, poor fruit set and drought in 2015 hurt the North Coast Pinot Noir harvest in much the same way they harmed the California Central Coast, according to speakers at the Anderson Valley Pinot Noir Technical Conference.

While the North Coast Pinot Noir crop—including Lake, Marin, Mendocino, Napa and Sonoma counties—dropped by 22%, grape prices rose at the same time, averaging $2,995 per ton for Mendocino grapes and boosted by demand for grapes from Anderson Valley, a cool-climate sub-AVA of Mendocino County with 2,695 acres of Pinot Noir. That price is higher than Napa Valley Pinot Noir and virtually tied with Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties, while remaining less than price-leader Sonoma County.

Shortages and higher prices tend to go together, but Pinot Noir growers and producers should also be aware of the long-term consequences, according to Glenn McGourty, the University of California winegrowing and plant science advisor for Mendocino and Lake counties.

In a report prepared by McGourty and presented by Devon Jones, executive director of the Mendocino County Farm Bureau, McGourty made the case that fast-rising consumer demand for Pinot Noir at a time when high-quality coastal grapes and bulk wine are hard to find means that wineries will have to fill their popular brands with a higher proportion of lower quality Pinot Noir from the Central Valley.

That dilution could have a far-reaching effect on the image and long-term popularity of California Pinot Noir, according to McGourty.

Using data from the CDFA/NASS Grape Acreage and Grape Crush Reports, McGourty showed that Pinot Noir acreage is growing quickly across the state—from under 20,000 acres in 2000 to more than 44,000 acres today. Most new plantings occurred in the Central Coast and Central Valley. Mendocino County Pinot acreage shrank to 6% of the whole during that period.