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VIDEO CNN's Deborah Feyerick reports on a vintage year Windows Media 28K 80K  WINE 101: Message Board What our your favorite wines? Wine Labels Learn how to read them. Wine Prices Find out how much you'll pay. Wine Varietals Use our glossary.

August 19, 1999
Web posted at: 1:36 p.m. EDT (1736 GMT)

PECONIC, New York (CNN) -- The dry hot summer that has plagued farmers in the Eastern United States had winemakers on Long Island anxiously anticipating a vintage year.

"'99 may very well be the kind of year we'll be looking at and saying all our wines should just be like '99," said Dan Damianos, owner of Pindar Vineyards.

Pindar Vineyards on Long Island's North Fork is the largest of 22 vineyards in the area, producing 16 different wines and one champagne.

The warm weather of this summer has been a winemaker's dream.

"By having a smaller berry, what we're getting is very intense fruit flavors," Damianos said.

The lack of rain means grapes this year are smaller by about 20 percent. Wine gets its flavor from the skin, so less juice means more concentrated richer flavors.

"You get chocolately flavors, black cherry and currant -- you're tasting all these flavors," said winemaker Marke Friszolowski.

But smaller grapes also mean fewer bottles. Grape clusters that produced 80,000 cases for Pindar in 1998 are expected to only yield around 65,000 cases in 1999.

Less wine means higher prices. Wine specialists Steve Mutkoski said he expects Long Island wine prices to go up.

"Increases on some wines will be a dollar a bottle -- others certainly much more than that," he said.

There is a downside to the drought. The vines have been stressed and fatigued because they are working harder and are dehydrated. The stress could affect the quality and quantity of the grapes grown next year.

For now, as the red grapes turn deep purple and the green grapes, golden, winemakers are focused on the end of summer. They're gearing up for an early harvest beginning at the end of August and going through October.

They aren't toasting a banner year just yet. They are still worried about possible autumn hurricanes or heavy rains, either of which could cause problems with the final fruit.