MACKINAW - Winemaker Paul Hahn can breathe a big sigh of relief. It appears his grape vines at Mackinaw Valley Vineyard survived the late winter blast in April with flying colors - literally.

Little pink flowers have started to bloom along with the green leaves and buds that have sprouted on his grape plants. He points out a couple tiny flowers and confidently says that plant will produce fruit. It takes a flower to produce each grape, he explained.

"I'm assuming the rest are the same. … I think we're going to be fine," he said.

But he wasn't always so certain. And not everyone was as lucky.

Cold temperatures and freezes in April made vineyard operators across Illinois and the Midwest - including Hahn - nervous. The Mackinaw vineyard just might have been on the right side of a divide between safety and lost crops.

Warmer-than-usual temperatures in March had signaled to vines that it was spring and time for growth, said Paul Renzaglia, president of the Illinois Grape Growers and Vintners Association. Inclement weather the next month killed anywhere from 20 to 100 percent of the primary buds - the most fruitful part - on grape plants south of Bloomington, Renzaglia said.

"It was the worst damage we've ever seen in this region," he said.

The southern part of the state was hit harder because their plants start to grow earlier. The Carbondale area is about two weeks ahead of Bloomington's growth, Renzaglia said.

Renzaglia's vineyard, Alto Vineyards in the southern Illinois town of Alto Pass, suffered close to 100 percent damage. But he's optimistic the secondary buds will give him some fruit. Most grapes grown in Illinois produce fruit with the secondary bud, but the yields are greatly reduced compared to the primary bud's production, he said. He expects a 60 percent drop in yields this year.

On the other hand, Hahn hopes to improve from last year's lower yields. Last year, he produced 5,500 gallons of wine. This year, he hopes to get 7,000 to 8,000 gallons.

Still, winemakers across Illinois could struggle to find grapes. About 60 percent of the vines grown in Illinois are south of Bloomington, and many vineyards to the north purchase those grapes, Renzaglia said.

For example, Wayne Furrow grows four varieties of his own grapes at Furrow Vineyard & Winery in El Paso, but he also purchases other grapes from southern Illinois.

Before the April freeze, buds were swollen and ready to open but hadn't started to grow enough to succumb to the weather, Furrow said.

"Our vines now, they all have leaves on them. They've just budded out in the past several days, so we've been able to survey it, and there's no damage," Furrow said.

He hopes to at least match last year's production of 10,000 gallons, or 50,000 bottles, of wine. For optimal results, grapes need sun and dry conditions, Furrow said.

And of course, vineyard operators fear another late freeze.

"We're not out of the woods yet," Furrow said.