In August of 2004, shortly before harvest, a surprise heat wave hit Napa's vines. The heat sent sugar levels shooting up and shriveled much of the grape crop. Growers, who are usually paid by the ton for their crop, lamented the decrease in their income that year.

Although last year's climate was something of an anomaly, a general trend has been on the rise in Napa and the North Coast to extend harvests, which often results in fruit dehydration. This has some growers worried.

Andy Beckstoffer, the largest family grower in Napa, has organized a seminar series sponsored by the Napa Valley Grape Growers Association to address issues surrounding longer hang-times from several different industry perspectives. So far, the series has featured famous viticulturists and covered the economic side of the debate. The third seminar, which takes place Thursday, will feature winemakers and restaurateurs who will discuss what qualities they look for in wine.

Many vintners favor longer hang times, because they say the extra time grapes spend on the vine develops the full flavors that have lately been lauded by wine critics, whose opinions have had increasing influence over industry standards. However, longer hang times often translate into higher brix, or sugar, levels. When wine ferments, yeast processes the fruit sugars into alcohol, therefore fruit with more brix results in wines with high alcohol. Another side effect of high brix is "stuck fermentation," when the alcohol concentration of fermenting wine gets so high that it kills the yeast before it can convert the remaining sugar. Some winemakers add water to the wine when this happens to revive fermentation.

There is some speculation, too, that picking grapes very late can cause long-term damage to vines.

For these reasons, as well as the financial one, Beckstoffer explained that though the industry benefits from full-flavored wine, high alcohol is more of an unwanted side effect. Through his seminar series, he hopes to determine ways to achieve full-flavored wines with moderate alcohol levels by looking at different viticultural techniques, e.g., irrigation and vine management. He hopes that this year's cool, long growing season, which allowed grapes to hang without noticeable dehydration, will produce exactly the kind of wine he's working toward, and that it will be well-received.

To help ensure success in future vintages, Beckstoffer's search for solutions has led to the cooperative effort of the seminars. Instead of pitting growers against vintners, he encourages them to work together. "This conversation was going on (among growers) in the coffee shops, but we wanted to put it in a professional space, an open forum." Beckstoffer said.

Diane Kenworthy, director of grower relations at Ravenswood Winery, pegged the beginning of the longer hang time trend to the late nineties, when area wineries developing high-end products were looking for ways to stand out from the crowd. Fuller flavors were being rewarded by wine critics. Characterizing the pressure for longer hang times, she said, "As you spend more money, there are more expectations of (flavor) intensity."

Jim Gilmore, executive director of the North Coast Grape Growers, estimates that growers may lose about 30 percent of their tonnage when grapes are picked at 27 brix, versus 24 brix.

Gilmore said the dehydration issue is just one of many obstacles that threaten growers financially. According to a University of California, Davis report he referred to, 16 percent of North Coast wineries did not break even last year. "Wineries need to understand the consequences of driving out scores of independent growers that are willing to do the kind of careful, hand-crafted viticultural and farming practices that it takes to produce the kind of fruit we produce here," Gilmore said.

Larry Levin, vice president of winemaking at Icon Estates, will be a panelist at the upcoming seminar. He claimed that it is normal for growers to have anxiety about getting fruit off the vine, and that it is also normal for winemakers to want to wait to pick the fruit during maturity. He divided growers into two categories: those who merely grow grapes and those who make wine, the latter of whom support longer hang times, because they are more sensitive to quality.

When asked what options are available to growers facing the economic pinch of longer hang times, Beckstoffer suggested that they ask their winery clients for contractual protection when dehydration occurs. "Wineries are willing to talk to growers, but the growers need to ask," he said.

Other solutions are bonuses that wineries pay to growers to compensate for lost weight, or for wineries to pay for the water added to fermentation, as if it were grape tonnage. Other wineries pay growers by the acre, rather than by the ton.

As for the future, many predict that the trend will moderate itself. Kenworthy got into the wine industry in the early 1980s, when wineries were actually trying to produce low-alcohol wines. She predicted that the pendulum will eventually swing back. But for now, it looks like we'll all be left hanging on that speculation.

The third in the Napa Valley Grape Growers Hang Time seminar will take place Thursday from 1-5 p.m. at the Native Son's Hall, 1313 Spring Street, St. Helena. Panelists will be Ed Weber, John Clews, Larry Levin, Mark Matthews, Pat Kuleto, and John Lancaster. Admission is $65 to $75.

On the Net:

www.napagrowers.org