When life gives you lemons you should simply make lemonade. Faced with a sluggish wine market, some California growers of nonpremium winegrapes might likewise be well-advised to make grape juice, according to two UC Davis agricultural economists. In a recently released report analyzing the need for new products in the winegrape industry, Dale Heien, a professor of agricultural economics, and graduate student Ray Venner found that there is a healthy market potential for grape-juice concentrate made from winegrapes. The study was prompted by a decadelong decline in the market for winegrapes grown in the San Joaquin Valley. That slump is attributed to tax increases on wine and to a shift in consumer preference toward the premium varietal wines made from grapes grown in the Napa Valley and other California coastal areas. While the wine market is waning, the grape-juice concentrate market is experiencing renewed vigor, according to Heien. "There is a growing and dynamic market for grape-juice concentrate as part of the worldwide market for natural fruit juice beverages and other products," he says. Since it contains only fructose, a natural sweetener, foods and beverages made with grape-juice concentrate can be labeled "sugar free," notes Heien.