Don't trust your own senses, in determining whether this is a hot summer!

Here's what I just wrote to my fellow grapegrowers in SW WA (and, first, you need to know that Growing Degree Days measure heat which is a proxy for sunshine; growers use GDDs to know how warm their growing season really is):

It's been so hot for the past few days that it seems strange to get this result, but we had a late, cool Spring, and:

I know the high-lo temps for today and tomorrow, so I can calculate GDDs (F; base 50) for Jan 1, 2020 through July 31, 2020, and the total is: 1189. That is the lowest of THE PAST SEVEN YEARS.

Next, I took the 15-day forecast and used that to project all of August, and that adds 604 GDDs, for an Aug 31 total of 1793 (but if the 2nd half of August is cooler than the first half, which is normal for us to see, that 1794 estimate will end up being a bit too high). That is the lowest of the past 3 years (but not the lowest of the past 7 years).

In recent years, September has added about 500 more GDDs (it varies a lot depending whether the rains come early--last year, Sept only added 250 GDDs). So if we get "normal rain return date" (about Sept 21), that might leave us at about 2290 GDDs by Sept 30. That is better than average for this area, if you look at the past 50 years, but due to recent climate change it would also be the second-lowest of the past 7 years.

So I am going to continue dropping fruit now, to help the remainder get fully ripe, just like last year, on all my varieties except the ones that have shown they can ripen a huge load no matter the weather (only some of my modern varieties can do that). If growers let a full crop hang, I predict they may have less-ripe flavors. It's a very difficult decision to make, of course, as each grower has to think about their own fruit quality and income needs. 

Comments welcome,

Kenton

Your Education Committee Chair

2018 Onyx Rose wine - An enthusiastic review

Wow! It's so much fun to find great wines at low prices. This 2018 Onyx Rose wine from Provence (France) is wonderful, and it's on closeout special now, as the 2019 roses are "on the boat" over here to the US.

1. "Is it past its prime?" you ask. An emphatic "no!" I had it, over the course of an hour, and it had been open for a whole day, and yet it was fresh and singing loudly.
2. Color: Pale pinkish-salmon, the typical color for Provencal roses.
3. Bouquet:  A delightful mix of summer fruits, and flowers, and lots of steel and flint. Really nice.
4. Palate: Those same fruits carried along on a great acidic frame. This is so good with food. It's a bigger and bit-fruitier wine than you expect from a French rose, so it sits in between Old World and New World stylistically.
5. Finish: A good finish, but that's not the appeal here.

This wine's made from GSM--Grenache-Syrah-Mouvedre grapes, by the famous Aix winery. I'm selling it now for just $9! Wow.

Red Currants!

It takes FOREVER to pick a currant bush. The berries are so tiny. Only huckleberries are worse. It must be done in several efforts, or else you just might go crazy ;) . I can do it for maybe 30 minutes, but then I have to quit, and come back later. Currant bushes, in this cool, wet, late Spring, are loaded this year: I've picked 3 pints from the one bush and there are still more berries out there. These I freeze, then add later to the Epona Rose wine (where, admittedly, they make only a tiny statement LOL - we're talking about maybe 1 lb of currants and hundreds of pounds of grapes). Currants are acidic and delightful.