As the North American market prepares for the transition to Southern Hemisphere citrus, Capespan North America’s CEO Mark Greenberg says the fresh fruit supplier is approaching the period with “reasonable expectations and with moderate optimism”.

The last time California had a grape harvest as small as last year was 1994. OJ Simpson led cops on a slow-motion chase through LA. Kurt Cobain shot himself. Jeff Bezos founded Amazon.

An unusually cold and foggy July marked one of the chilliest midsummers in decades around Sonoma, Napa and much of the Bay Area, leaving some growers apprehensive about potential delays.

After a depressing year in which nearly half of all wine grapes in California might not have been harvested, wineries might find themselves scrambling to find grapes this summer, according to an industry analyst.