Sundale Sales Inc., the marketing arm of Sundale Vineyards in Tulare, CA, continues to expand its table grape production as it has for several years, and most of this year’s growth has been in late season varieties, according to Sean Stockton, president of Sundale Sales.

The big focus for the company’s fall program, he said, will be on Autumn Kings, Autumn Royals, Crimsons and the company’s proprietary Sundale Red, he said. “We’ve increased acreage in each and every one of those varieties over the last year.”

With its strong focus on the late season, Sundale was among the pioneers in covering late-producing vineyards extensively to provide protection against possible damage from early rain. Many other grape growers are now also covering part or all of their late-season crops, some putting the plastic on sooner than others.

“It’s becoming more and more common, there is no doubt about it,” Mr. Stockton said. “But with our high-density plantings” and a trellis system that lends itself to the practice, “we are able to do extensive covering” of the late-producing vineyards. The program has been “highly effective and has worked very well for us,” he said.

“We will start our extensive plastic covering program for the late season [varieties] toward the end of August,” he said. That is considerably earlier than some others. “It will take us about three weeks to get everything covered,” he said.

“So far, the season has been running very smooth,” Mr. Stockton said Aug. 9. “The production was a little lighter than anticipated on the very front end of the deal with Flames and Sugraones, and it might be a little bit lighter on the Princess also, but the quality has been outstanding and the movement has been brisk.” Table grapes “seem to be in high demand for the retailers.”

A heat wave during the first part of August was “having an effect” on the grapes, but mainly in terms of slowing them down, Mr. Stockton explained. “Anytime you are dealing with 105 to 110 degree temperatures, more than anything else it kind of puts everything into stasis — a little bit of a pause mode.”

Additionally, when it gets that hot, “you can’t work your labor as late in the day, so you have a little bit shorter hours. But those are all common occurrences in a normal season.”

The heat “is not going to have any significant adverse effect on these newer varieties coming down the line, in my opinion,” he said. With Autumn King, for example, “it’s just a later maturing variety” that will be harvested through the end of October and sold in November and December. “It is not at a state right now that it is at high risk” as long as the vines have “a good shaded canopy” to protect the grapes from sunburn. Younger vineyards with a lighter canopy would be more at risk, as is true with any variety, he added.

But with Autumn Kings, and also with Sundale Reds, “right it now we are another three or four weeks away from even beginning harvest.” the berries are “not mature yet,” so there is “not much of a risk.”

A greater weather concern for the late varieties would potentially be an early rain prior to harvest, but Sundale is covered on that score with its program of putting protective plastic coverings over the vines.