CALDWELL, Idaho — Months after a powerful summer hailstorm swept through parts of the Treasure Valley, crews at Huston Vineyards are still seeing its effects as harvest season gets underway.
Walking through rows of grapevines at the Caldwell-area winery, vineyard manager Josh Alger pointed out clusters that tell the story of the storm. Some grapes remain healthy, while others are shriveled and scarred from hail that struck during a critical stage of the growing season.
WATCH | Hail-damaged grapes leave Caldwell vineyards facing an uncertain harvest
For Alger, the damage has made this harvest unlike any other.
"We've been open since 2006, so 20 years, and we've never experienced hail in the growing season," Alger said.The storm left different levels of damage across the vineyard. Some sections escaped largely untouched, while others were hit hard enough to reduce the amount of fruit that can be harvested.
Alger demonstrated the difference by comparing damaged grapes to healthy ones. He said hail-struck berries lose juice and can create an imbalance that affects the winemaking process.
"Our berries were impacted and the hail hit them and actually burst those berries," Alger said. "So a portion of our crop was actually reduced."
While a smaller crop can sometimes lead to higher-quality fruit, it also means fewer grapes available to turn into wine.
To protect quality, vineyard crews are removing damaged fruit before it reaches production. In some blocks, Alger estimates nearly two-thirds of the crop could be dropped.
The extent of the damage surprised even experienced growers.
"We came out here the day after and we were just baffled," Alger said. "Couldn't believe how hail could impact the vine so much.
"Now, Huston's vineyard and winery teams are working together to sort fruit and study how hail damage affects the final product.
Because the winery has never faced growing-season hail on this scale before, staff are conducting extensive testing throughout the harvest.
"We're doing huge amounts of testing this year just to see, OK, how does it affect tannin structure and all these fancy wine terms," Alger said.
"If it happens 5, 10, 20 years down the road, we can make sure we still have good products."
For now, Alger says customers can still expect quality wine from Huston Vineyards. The larger question is how much wine the winery will ultimately be able to produce from this year's crop.
The answer may not be fully known until the grapes complete their journey from vineyard to bottle.
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