Napa Valley harvest: low to average yields and sugar levels
October 15, 2009
By Janice Fuhrman
Napa Valley vintners are reporting a relaxed harvest, with many grapes being picked at lower sugar levels than usual.
At the harvest press conference in San Francisco, a spokesperson for the Napa Valley Vintners trade association (NVV) said 'initial reports are finding vintners and growers delighted with 2009 - from Albarino to Zinfandel and everything in between.'
Doug Shafer, of Shafer Vineyards, described the weather as 'boring', adding that 'in 29 years of doing this, the boring years weather-wise, turn out to make the best wine.'
'The Cabernet and Chardonnay acids were ideal at a Brix level one, several degrees below normal. It's great as far as we are concerned - we get the flavors at lower alcohols,' he added.
Growers are attributing the low to average yields throughout the valley to the moderate summer, giving the grapes the chance to develop proper acidity.
Michael Honig, of Honig Vineyard and Winery, praised the weather, saying 'the fruit got to ripen evenly and consistently so the flavors and the sugars came together at the right time. It's what we look for each year.'
'What brought my spirits up is that 2009 was not a large crop, but a little below average. If it had been a big one, it would have been a tough - there is already a large inventory of wine out there,' Honig added.
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Just wanted to comment on the above article – I have no idea where Doug Shafer and Michael Honig were this vintage, but what they described certainly did not apply to us up here at Chateau Montelena (nor to my many friends that had similar experiences to my own). We saw tremendous yields from all of our Chardonnay blocks/growers - on the order of 130% of normal, and uniformly so from Coombsville to Oak Knoll Dist.. We are on track to record the biggest harvest in our recent history here at CM. It was also a very compact and intense harvest due to the hot weather Sept. 16-27 (the highs were always above 90F in this period with one day at 106F!). So much for boring weather. Now to be fair, the growing season (bloom to veraison) was very mild and uneventful, but the ripening season (veraison to harvest) was rather hot up here in Calistoga. In August we saw 11 days over 90F in the period from 8/8-8/22, certainly not boring. Just my $0.02. Cameron Parry, Winemaker, Chateau Montelena Winery
NOT ALL OF NAPA VALLEY IS THE SAME:
I am always amused by the news releases coming out from our growers and winery associations. They seem to read more like the French wine press releases. “Every year is exceptional, the vintage of the century”. While, it is true that most Northern California vintages are quite similar and most are good, with far fewer year to year variations than France, there is a distinct difference in vintages from the different Appellations in Napa and Sonoma .
The mountain vineyards, most notably, Howell Mountain, , Spring Mountain, Atlas Peak and Mt. Veeder enjoy distinctly different growing conditions than the Valley Floor. Even more important is the differences between the higher elevation vineyards that are above the fog line and the lower mountain vineyards which receive fog patterns similar to the valley floor. We all know about the magic of the San Francisco Bay fog that cools our Northern California grape growing regions. But few are aware of the effect of that fog on vineyards above about 1200 feet that enjoy the cooling of the fog but also receive far more hours of ultraviolet rays, even on foggy mornings. While most wine consumers and experts are not familiar with these differences or the extremes and idiosyncrasies of the mountain vineyards weather, it is a great illusion to believe that vintage reports on the Napa Valley apply to these mountain vineyards.
The 2009 vintage from the mountain vineyards will be extraordinary due to a very difficult Spring during the bloom period and berry set. This has resulted in very small berries, small bunches and a very unusual, low number of seeds per berry, sometimes only one or two. And a relatively light yield per acre. This also caused the Merlot and Cabernet to ripen very early and very fast in late September after two a weeks of 80 to 100F days and warm nights. Despite a cooling trend and an unusual rain on September 22, Sugars in our Mt. Vineyard shot up to 27 Brix before October 1. There was a scramble to pick the mountain vineyards in the last days of September. So contrary to the press releases, this was not a low sugar vintage and it was a complex and unusual vineyard year. The 2009 vintage now punctuated by an early tropical storm, dumping 3-4 inches of rain on the mountain tops this last Monday with rains off and on through yesterday. There are still a lot of grapes hanging and for thick skinned varieties, we will have a very long hang time. Our Petit Verdot has at least another week or more to ripen and we pray for sunshine. So, it has been a very exciting and unusual vineyard year here at the 2000 ft. Elevation on the Western Side of Mt. Veeder. Elliott Mackey, Vineyard Partner, CAVEDALE VINEYARDS
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