SKANEATELES -- July's rainy weather has put a real squeeze on grape growers statewide. "We're wet, and what the wetness does is create problems as far as mildew, as far as different types of insects and those types of challenges disease-wise," said James Nocek, owner of Anyela's Vineyards in Skaneateles. "We're down about 10% on growing degree days which means the amount of heat it requires to take a crop a certain place in its development."

In fact, some wineries are reporting at least 22 days of precipitation this month alone, and if this continues, it could be "sour grapes" for growers. Too much rain can affect taste if the heat doesn't come along with it. It can dilute the flavor and the sugar in the grapes. The rain can also cause grapes to swell, thinning the skin, and can make it hard to pick the fruit. At this point, Nocek says canopy management is crucial. "As we tear off the leaves, we can expose the fruit so we get airflow so we can go ahead and allow permeation of air and a reduction of stagnantation of the air so you can dry it out," Nocek said.

Grape specialist Hans Walter-Peterson says as long as the grapes are kept dry, there should be nothing to "wine" about. "Part of the thing that's also helped is that it's been cooler than normal," Walter-Peterson said. "If we had hotter wet weather, that's a real help to those diseases but most of the vineyards I've been to look pretty good considering the disease pressures that are out there."

The rain has a different effect on each type of grape. For example, the cluster on the Pinot grapes is much tighter than other varieties, so too much rain makes them more susceptible to disease. "There's still a really good chance for us to have a good season," Walter-Peterson said. "Kind of the most critical time for us to have just good, sunny, warm, dry weather is the last half of August and into September. We had that in October of '07, and it really made it one of the banner years we've had in the Finger Lakes in a really long time."