“We’ve got increases in everything” for the 2012 grape season in the San Joaquin Valley and will have additional increases in coming seasons, said Nick Dulcich, a partner in J.P. Dulcich & Sons in Delano, CA, and president of Sunlight International Sales Inc., the company’s sales arm. “We are growing as a company.”

The company’s volume was up last year and continues to build this year with young vineyards coming into fuller production.

In addition, there are young vineyards yet to come into production, and new planting continues.

Nick Dulcich“We have 565 acres that we are training to come into production next year on various varieties,” largely Autumn King green seedless and Scarlet Royal red seedless varieties, he said.

In addition, “we bought a section of ground, which is 640 acres, in Maricopa” in the southern San Joaquin Valley. “We planted 320 [acres] this year, and we are planting another 320 next year” to increase the company’s volume in the early season.

To accommodate the anticipated increase in volume, the company is expanding its cold storage and pre-cooling capacity.

“We have two storage rooms and a pre-cooler we are adding on,” Mr. Dulcich said. The addition covers 30,000 square feet, bringing the facility’s total holding capacity to about 1.2 million boxes. The pre-cooler will have a 90,000-box-per-day capacity.

The San Joaquin Valley grape harvest started for the company on July 2 this year with Flames out of the Maricopa district from Carreon Farms, a grower that Sunlight Sales has represented for several years. The grapes had “great color and great sugar,” Mr. Dulcich said July 13. “Carreon is actually done picking today, which is about normal.” The Flame harvest at Carreon normally takes about 11 to 12 days.

Meanwhile, “we started in Delano on Flames on July 9. The quality is outstanding, color is great, sugars are great. Brix are running about 18 to 20.”

“We also started Summer Royals in Maricopa,” he said. That crop was “unusually light and we are done picking them, and we are getting close to being sold out.” That contrasts with last year, when “we had inventory until September. This year, it is in and out.”

That particular field was hit by hail in April, which may have accounted for the lighter crop, he said.

The Sugraone harvest for Dulcich just started. By the beginning of August, “a lot of varieties are going to be ready in Arvin and in Delano,” he said.

“It looks like right around the middle of August we are going to have Princess and Scarlet Royal out of the Arvin area, and we should be going with Thompsons as well,” he added. Majestics will also start about that time, and “there will just be a plethora of varieties that will be available” during August and “going into September.”

Everything appears to be 10 to 15 days earlier than last year, he said.

“We’ve got a beautiful crop and a vintage-looking crop,” Mr. Dulcich continued. “Autumn Kings are humongous. Scarlets are beautiful. The only thing that is slightly light is the black grapes, for whatever reason. This year’s dry, warm spring contrasted with a cool, wet spring the last two years.“

“The vines look nice. The grapes look nice. There are no color issues this year. You can already see color in Crimsons and in Autumn Royal” which colored late last year.