"Leo Bueno" wrote in message
...

An issue surrounding the current (ongoing is a better description
perhaps) row between California growers and vintners regarding how
long to keep the grapes on the vine has piqued my interest. See
excerpt (and link to an article):
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...IGB0AONQB1.DTL
"Growers say winemakers ask them to harvest fruit at 27 or 28 Brix
(percent of sugar), which is far greater than the 24 Brix of the fruit
that was harvested in the 1980s. By picking that late, the grapes
partially dehydrate -- and a new interpretation of state law permits
wineries to add the water back at the crusher to help wines ferment
more efficiently."

Why don't both players simply contract for grapes at say 27.5 brix (or
whatever value) and price them accordingly?

I suspect that the growers want to go back to a points system such as was in
use back in the 1980s. Grape prices were routinely established at a given
Brix (e.g. 23°). A surcharge was added for every 0.1° in excess of that
baseline. As I recall, the practice was abandoned during the grape glut,
when it became a buyers' market and the growers were eager to please and
hold onto the few customers they had.

Tom S