(Wines&Vines) - After two boom years, California’s wine grape harvest shrunk 7.9% to 3.91 million tons, following the record 2013 crush of 4.25 million tons. Today’s release of the Preliminary Crush Report by the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service revealed interesting trends but few real surprises for wine industry professionals who study the wine and grape markets year-round. 

“Red wine varieties accounted for the largest share of all grapes crushed, at 2,134,995 tons, down 11.7% from 2013,” according to the report. “White wine variety crush totaled 1,775,183 tons, down 3% from 2013.

”Perhaps reflecting the reduced harvest, red wine grapes drew an average of $883.45 per ton, up 3.6% from 2013; white wine grapes, on the other hand, averaged $588.30 per ton, down 5.6% from 2013, statewide. “

In 2014, Chardonnay continued to account for the largest percentage of the total crush volume with 17.2%. Cabernet Sauvignon accounted for the second leading percentage of crush with 12.3%,” the report stated.

For reporting data, California is divided into 17 districts. District 13 (Madera, Fresno, Alpine, Mono, Inyo Counties; and Kings and Tulare Counties north of Nevada Avenue [Avenue 192]) had the largest share of the state’s crush, with 1.36 million tons. The average price per ton in District 13 was $305.69.

Not surprisingly, North Coast districts raked in the highest prices for wine grape varieties: Napa County (District 4) pocketed an average price of $4,064.95 per ton, up 10% from 2013. District 4 Cabernet Sauvignon averaged $5,930 per ton in 2014. District 3 (Sonoma and Marin counties) received the second-highest return of $2,313.82, up 3% percent from 2013.

Statewide, the 2014 Chardonnay price of $858.26 was down 1% from 2013, but the price of Cabernet Sauvignon ($1,412.92) was up 5%. The 2014 average price for Zinfandel was $621.84, down 5%, while the average price for Merlot was up 2% from 2013 at $771.21 per ton, according to the report. Syrah prices were down $17.81, to $751.80 per ton. Petite Sirah was down $6.47 to $1,054.73 per ton.

Other popular white wine grape varieties remained stagnant or reduced in tonnage: Pinot Gris/Grigio grew slightly: 181,800 tons in 2014 vs. 178,887 tons in 2013; Sauvignon Blanc accounted for 110,146 tons vs.127,679 tons in 2013; Viognier fell to 24,488 tons after totaling 28,157 tons in 2013, and despite its vaunted resurgence in the popular market, Muscat Blanc showed just 39,928 tons were harvested in contrast to 48,476 the previous year. At 159,857 tons, Muscat of Alexander was up 27.4%.