It’s a good thing wine ages well. If it didn’t, Raymond Haak might be in trouble.

The winery owner is one grape grower of many across the state who found out that the refreshing cool front during the Easter weekend had some costly consequences.

The freeze in the northern part of the state destroyed an estimated 75 percent of this year’s grape crop.

That means Haak won’t be making cabernet sauvignon, malbec or tempra nillo wines this year — the types made from grapes that come from that part of the state.

“Luckily, I have enough inventory,” he said. “Next year, I’ll just have to order double.”

But what troubles Haak and other Texas wine producers is that last year, droughts destroyed 75 percent of the crop.

The full impact of the two years’ worth of losses probably won’t be seen for another year, said Dacota Julson, executive director of the Texas Wine and Grape Growers Association.

Meanwhile, Julson said Texas wineries are doing what they must to keep their doors open: Buying grapes from out of state, bringing in wine from other areas and relying on what they have in stock.

Small vineyards, such as Haak’s, usually depend on the bigger growers for most of their grapes. He grows two types of grapes in his three-acre Santa Fe vineyard, which amounts to about three tons of grapes.

But that’s only about 2 percent of the total grapes he needs to keep his winery running.

The rest, he orders from farmers across the state. Some of them told him he wouldn’t be getting any grapes this year.

And because Haak wants to keep his product truly Texan, he isn’t interested in ordering grapes from outside of the state.

Other wineries don’t have a choice.

The problem with late-season cold temperatures is that if the buds have already formed when it freezes, the grapes are ruined before they can grow, Haak said.

Usually, white grapes break first, so they’re more susceptible to cold temperatures.

Haak said most farmers expect one bad year out of every five.

But Julson said this is the worst two years the wine industry has experienced since the early 1990s.

“We were on a ride of good luck for a while,” she said.

Most wineries plan for bad years by making more wine than they need during good years, like Haak did.

That way, even if the grapes the next year aren’t good, the wine from the year before will be.

The loss of Texas grapes doesn’t necessarily mean buying a bunch at the grocery store will cost more, said Mark Waller, the associate department head for agriculture economics at Texas A&M University.

Most grapes purchased at the grocery store are from South America and other parts of the country, he said. Almost all Texas grapes are used for wine.

The unseasonably cold temperatures will also affect other crops.

In Galveston County, most vegetables and fruit will be about two weeks late, agriculture extension agent William Johnson said.

Pecan, peach, watermelon and cantaloupe crops also suffered across the country because of the spring freeze, he said.

That’s something that shoppers will see at the grocery store, Waller said.

Anytime there’s a shortage in domestic products like those, prices go up — something that’s true no matter what causes the shortage.

“In the beginning, it looked like it was going to be a phenomenal year, especially compared to the droughts last year,” he said. “Now we have a different set of problems.”