(Wines&Vines) - With some of the state’s last fruit remaining on the vine, the remnants of Hurricane Odile swept into Texas recently, bringing intense rainfall and flooding in many areas.

The rain was particularly bittersweet, as the state has been suffering through a prolonged drought. While the storms did bring some water relief, their arrival was the last major challenge of a season that was not easy for farmers. “It was not a rockin’ chair kind of year. It was pretty hard for all of our crops,” said Bobby Cox, a grower and veteran consulting winemaker. “Mother Nature was just grouchy. We had a really beautiful August, but once September hit it got a little dicey.” 

Cox said those growers or winemakers who had been looking for a little more hang time through the end of September were out of luck if they weren’t able to get grapes in before the storms. The weather system, which caused flooding in Southern California and in other parts of the Southwest, dumped several inches of rain in just a few hours in parts of Texas, causing flash flooding that closed highways and damaged structures. A spring freeze reduced much of the state’s crop, but a cooler than normal summer meant what grapes the vines did produce were able to ripen to a high degree of quality.

The High Plains AVA has more than 4,000 acres of vines and supplies many of the wineries in the Hill County AVA, which is the hub of winemaking in the state. According to the winery database by Wines Vines Analytics, Texas is home to more than 200 wineries producing 1.8 million cases of wine per year, placing it fifth in U.S. wine production in terms of the number of wineries and case production.