Per Shanken's daily ITB rag:
California could be facing a vine shortage, reports Wine Spectator. Grapegrowers throughout the state are rushing to plant new vines to keep up with increasing wine consumption trends, but major vine nurseries have been caught unprepared for the dramatic increase in demand in recent months. Major Central Valley and Central Coast grapegrowers began placing large vine orders last summer and fall. According to Sunridge Nurseries (one of the state’s biggest vine nurseries), one major winemaker asked for 1.2 million vines in August. Meanwhile, growers are predicting that a shortage could result in higher wine prices. “At least insofar as the Napa Valley is concerned, we’ve already seen rising prices due to short vintages in 2010 and 2011,” Michael Honig, owner of Honig Vineyard and Winery in Rutherford, told Wine Spectator. “We’re not likely to see changes due to the vine shortage for another two or three years, but the basic laws of supply and demand apply. Prices will go up.”