Autumn King vineyards will give Chuck Olsen bigger fall program
Autumn King vineyards will give Chuck Olsen bigger fall program
The Chuck Olsen Co. in Visalia, CA, which grows grapes in locations from the Delano area of Kern County north to the Visalia area, is looking forward to a good fall season, particularly if movement continues as good as it has been during the early part of the season, according to Jeff Olsen, president of the company.
“As of right now, everything seems to be moving OK,” he said Aug. 7. “Overall quality has been good.”
Moving into the latter part of the season, from Sept. 1 forward, “we should be going pretty good on Crimsons” and also going on Scarlet Royals and Sweet Scarlets, all red seedless varieties, Olsen said. Red Globes, a seeded variety, and the black seedless Autumn Royals should also be going by then, and Autumn Kings, a green seedless late season variety, will follow.
The Chuck Olsen Co. has young plantings of Autumn Kings coming into fuller maturity this year, which will increase the overall size of the company’s fall program. The Autumn King vineyards have “a very nice set,” and “as long as the fruit continues to be strong and have good condition” and continues to eat well, “we should have a good fall with grapes,” he said.
Water availability has been a concern this year, as it has for pretty much all of California agriculture. “if we have enough water” to get through the season, “things are going to be looking good,” he said. But if some of the vines “get a little weaker” due to inadequate water, “that could be a bit of a problem.” But so far, size and color have been good and there have been no issues with the fruit not coloring.
“Having enough water to satisfy the needs of that fruit is probably the biggest factor,” Olsen said. But heavy early rains could also create problems. “We all want rain,” but “we’d sure like it to wait until the latter part of October before it starts to happen.”
