The National Weather Service warned that much of Texas would experience freezing temperatures during the night of March 16, 2026. Bud break was happening along much of the Texas Coastal areas with interior Texas vineyards seeing several grape varietals pushing out buds. In some cases, the Blanc de Blanc hybrid grapes along the Texas Gulf Coast had the tiny white flowers of future grapes budding emerge. Those budding grape vines and especially those that started to flower were about to experience some significant problems for this production year of 2026. The night temperatures dropped into the 20’s across most of Texas. As a result, Texas grape vines were negatively impacted by varying degrees of freeze damage. Reports from several vineyards relating to the freeze damage include:
• Adega Vinho: Adega Vinho in Stonewall in the Texas Hill Country suffered at least a 60%+ loss of grape production from their vines.
• Messina Hof: Paul Bonarrigo reported, “Messina Hof has been Blessed in our Estate Vineyard in Bryan Texas. Our Estate Papa Paulo Old Vine Vineyard had 50% Survival of the Primary Buds. The Variety is Lenoir. Our First Planting of Lenoir Was In 1977. Our Estate Sagrantino That Was Planted in 2012 has 40% Survival of our Primary Buds. In every plant on every cane there are three buds at each node. The primary bud is responsible for the crop. When we have a freeze, some primary buds survive. In our case we were very fortunate to have a high percentage. The secondary buds kick in when the primary buds are frozen. They are less fruitful. Typically, Secondary Buds come out 3/4 Weeks After the Freeze and are 30/40% Fruitful. Harvest in our Estate Vineyard in Bryan begins in August. Our Primary Buds Fruit Should Harvest in August. The secondary bud harvest should begin In September. The Secondary Crop is 30/40% of the primary crop.
• Michael Ros Winery: Tim Drake, their winemaker told me, “We lucked out during the freeze. We only have sporadic damage here and there throughout the vineyard. We have Aglianico, Petite Sirah, Montepulciano and Syrah planted for a total of 8.5 acres and are located about a mile east of Fredericksburg. One thing that I believe helped us do so well, is that we practice delayed pruning. That means that we don’t do our final pruning pass until just before, or even during the early phase, of bud break. By leaving the longer (~15″) spurs, bud break will happen at the ends on buds that we’re not going to retain. Grapes have apical dominance, so those early buds release a hormone that delays bud break on the lower positions, keeping them dormant and tight longer. Since we go through and prune out those upper buds to get down to the 2-bud spurs we want, we’re just starting to see bud break. I think by using this technique, we were able to minimize the impact this last freeze had on us.”
As a result of this freeze, grape production in Texas will be lower than last year, even with many more acres of vineyards going online into production. This lower yield per acre normally provides a higher quality grape, with deeper varietal character and more complex depth that shows when made into wine. Although Texas might not have a high production year for grapes, the prognosis is the wines will be a better quality. The challenge will be that the vineyards will experience two harvests about a month apart being the primary bud grapes that survived and the secondary bud grapes that replaced the lost grapes during primary budding. With two vineyard pickings, the quality should be outstanding, but lower in quantity! Let’s hope that no more bad weather impacts Texas’ 24-billion dollar wine industry!