Grape acreage at Vignolo Farms in Shafter, CA “has increased tremendously over the last 15 years,” according to Brett Dixon, president and sales manager of Top Brass Marketing Inc. in Bakersfield, CA, the exclusive sales and marketing agent for table grapes, wine grapes and potatoes grown and packed by Vignolo.

During that time, “we have been real cautious with where we purchase ground and the districts we are in,” said Dixon. Because of that cautious and judicious approach, “we are finding ourselves in better water district areas,” a situation that has paid dividends in the face of the water availability issues that have plagued California in recent years.

In addition, “we have been putting wells in probably every other year for the last 15 years,” Dixon said. “So many times we did not need them [immediately], and it is quite an expense. But it is in a year like this where that is beginning to pay off. Between the water districts we are in and the wells, we are in good shape on water. Not that it hasn’t been a challenge, but we are better off than most.”

Having adequate water for the vineyards “has really helped,” enabling the company to produce grapes with the sizing that “we normally have” in a year when sizing is an issue for many. “We are hearing a lot of people coming off with [grapes] that have much smaller berry size [than normal] due to lack of water,” he said. “We are not experiencing that, thankfully.”

In 2013, prior to winter, “we put in five acres of solar panels” to provide electric power to run the cold storage facility, Dixon said. Not only is that “environmentally friendly” but it protects against the risk of electric service disruptions. “There have been years here in recent memory where they had rolling blackouts,” he said.

The company also has backup generators which can keep the facility going in the event of power loss.

In its late season grape program, Top Brass as expanded acreage this year in the Autumn King and Luisco varieties. In addition, “we are increasing all of our organic varieties throughout the season,” Dixon said.

“This winter, we will be adding more Sweet Scarlets,” he said. “We will be doubling our acreage there.” Although the variety is labor intensive, it is “a fantastic grape and something that the demand has exceeded the supply.”

Looking to the future, “we are doing test plots of Great Green, a seedless green that comes about four weeks after Thompson,” he said. Also “we are doing test plots of Kelley,” a round green seedless variety.

In the red seedless category, Top Brass has test plots of a variety called Allison that comes on after Crimsons and “colors up” more easily than Crimsons, he said.

Another grape the company is testing is a large seeded black grape called Midnight Globe, he said. It will come off stasrting in mid-October.

The company has expanded capacity in its in-house packingline, he said. “We can pack things in-house and extend the season that way for specialty packs.”

With regard to packaging, Top Brass has gone 100 percent to a high graphic handle bag or standup bag for its bagged grapes, Dixon said. It is “a real nice high-quality bag” with “a real good presentation.” That has been “a major change here over the last two years.”