Several factors, including great weather, an improved cultural system, increased marketing opportunities and an early crop, have George Tudor very optimistic about this year’s Coachella Valley grape season.

“The weather has been very steady. Since January, it has not been overly hot and we haven’t had any cold weather,” he said. “On average it has been about 5-10 degrees warmer every day.”

This has led to a start date of about two weeks earlier than normal, which gives grower-shippers the opportunity to extend their marketing season a little and to capitalize on the Memorial Day Weekend pull.         

“To sell to the East Coast for Memorial Day, you have to ship about 10 days before the holiday,” Tudor explained. “This year, the holiday is early (May 24-26), so you have to be shipping around May 16, 17 or 18 to get that business. If we were starting on May 12 or thereabouts, you just wouldn’t have the volume by then.”

This year some growers started picking around April 24, with most coming in a week later. Tudor said that by the second week of May, he’ll be picking 20,000 to 25,000 cartons per day, which is sufficient to stock some good Memorial Day Weekend promotions.

The third generation of Tudors to be involved in the family business, George Tudor said this year the firm has also added an additional marketing representative. For many years, Unifrutti of America Inc., based in Philadelphia, has been the exclusive sales agent for the Tudor Ranch output.   This year the company is also using Delano, CA-based Vincent B. Zaninovich & Sons Inc. to represent the company’s grapes. “Working with two strong sales companies will give us more avenues to sell our grapes,” Tudor said.

Tudor Ranch expects to ship about one million cartons this year, which is the same as the last several years, though George Tudor said the mix will be a little bit different.

The company will have more Scarlett Royals and Summer Royals, as it has a few more acres of each of those varieties coming into full production this year.

Tudor is also confident that his pack will be top notch this season. “We have slowly but surely redeveloped our vineyards over the years and now all but one small block are under an arbor system that utilizes a ‘Y’ configuration rather than the old wooden ‘T’ system,” he said.

Tudor added that most growers in California and worldwide have upgraded their trellis systems in recent years to a modified arbor system. He said the grape bunches hang freer and get more sunlight.

In addition, the wood of the vine also gets more sunlight which produces more fruit the following year. The newer growing systems result in a higher quality grape in the box, he said.

With this year’s early start, Tudor is also expecting an early finish. “Last year, we were still picking on the 9th and 10th of July. I don’t think we will have grapes in July this year. The San Joaquin Valley is saying they are about 10 days early so they are going to be on our heels.”