Update on what is looking to be a very great grape harvest

 We had two huge heat events this summer, so our GDDs are pretty high. Spring was a bit early also. Our earlier modern grapes are really proving their worth. Our Blattner Labelle is fully ripe (24 Brix; great flavors) and it is such an early grape that the birds are still eating our wild blackberries, so we didn't have to net and we're at only about 1% bird loss.  Also ripe are Jupiter (ranging from 21-22) and Monastery Muscat (20-21). Golubok is very close--some clusters (23 Brix) are already picked, but most (20-21 Brix) need another week. Leon Millot, which I used to think of as very early, is also close (ranging from 21-23). This all seems crazy early, but it's great. And the rumors of wine's demise in western WA were premature--we haven't had one whiff of smoke all summer, despite major wildfires all around our S, E, and N--the onshore winds from the Pacific have been consistent, and saved us. However, the later grapes are at risk of both voracious birds and smoke, and everything is affected by our drought--we're seeing some shriveling and had to do some supplemental irrigation during the summer, which is unusual. So we will see. Due to climate change I think, yields are way above average this year. 

Grape Ripening Surprise!

So, I was thinking of Golubok as a very early grape, about like Leon Millot rouge. But, my Blattner Labelle is proving itself even earlier. On August 14, Labelle is about 95% fully colored and already tasting sweet, when Leon is about 75% colored now and G'bok ranges from 5% colored to about 80% colored. 

1. Such earliness for Labelle seems like a quadruple advantage this year: (a) In our severe drought, some grapes are already shriveling, so a very early grape will get off the vine before it suffers as much shriveling, right? (b) This intense heat and drought are causing the wild Himalayan blackberries (our invasive weed but its fruit tastes great) to shrivel early, and the blackberries are the birds' preferred food, so if the blackberries aren't available, that's when the birds turn to the grapes, and the super-early grapes have the advantage there as well, right? (I might be able to take my Labelle in 2 weeks, whereas Pinot Noir is harvested in late Sept or early Oct, so the Pinot could see hugely more bird pressure). (c) Just like last year, the forest fire smoke held off until mid-August, then the onshore ocean winds shifted and we got hammered by heavy smoke. It may be starting up again this year--2 days ago the haze started up here (and I think it's been bad already over the drier/hotter east side of WA). A super-early grape might see fewer smoky days. (d) And finally, Labelle is tenteurier, so even if it does see heavy smoke, we can press the red juice off the skins and make a skinless red wine without smoke taint. For the win!

Another big advantage of Labelle, in a world where climate change is pushing more and more grape flavors towards black fruit flavors (I would put G'bok and Cab and Merlot and Syrah and Tempranillo in that category), is that Labelle has blue and red fruit flavors. It also sets a lot of fruit. FYI -I got my Labelles from Paul in Canada (legal import; lots of paperwork and expense). 

2. I am surprised that G'bok would show such a wide variation in veraison timing. All my vines came from the same vineyard, and are now in the same row, and same size, etc. One vine has only one cluster which looks like a mistake white grape, but a single berry on it is purple. Another vine has a cluster that's 80% dark purple. The other clusters are in between. Maybe it is because it's the vines' 2nd year? In contrast, the Leon and the Labelle are each almost perfectly synchronized--equal % veraison from cluster to cluster on each variety. That, of course, is what we want--all clusters getting ripe at the same time.

Harvest is close for we who grow modern grapes!

Climate change and grapes

This article scares me: We're seeing, today, the changes in climate that were recently forecasted for 2050!

There are some big losers in Grapeworld, and, probably, a few winners. Poor Australia, hit with more drought and too much heat. When ripening happens too fast, the flavors don't always have time to mature, and yet the grape must be picked, or else the sugars will be so high it's akin to making vodka, not wine.

Even in the US and Europe, flavors are shifting from the red and purple fruits (which I love, as expressed in wine) to black fruits (which I don't like because they can also include flavors like licorice and tar). And higher summer rainfall caused more humidity, which causes more Powdery Mildew on the grapevines. And we are seeing earlier ripening, in our SW WA vineyard, for sure.

(photo credit: Google images)

Justin Vineyards assailed for clearcutting oak grove in Paso Robles

If you look at the before and after photos in this article, you can see a dramatic loss of forest, clear-cut so that the winery can build a huge retention/irrigation pond and build more vineyards. Angry neighbors say the use of so much water is pretentious and wasteful in a time of drought, and the loss of the oaks is ecologically devastating.

I have mixed feelings here. Almonds are the extreme water users in California, and their prodigious thirst for water (and the state's refusal to further reduce water use for almonds) is a prime cause of the current water shortage. Arguments that there is already enough cleared land for new vineyards, are persuasive. The oaks there, as in the Sierra Foothills AVA, are gorgeous and important, so a massive loss of them is bad news; it is possible to leave little stands of trees here and there, and plant vineyards around those, so I wish it had been done here.

Wineries like Justin need to be careful, to take care of the land they own and to avoid upsetting their target customers. If there is continuing outcry, and perhaps movement away from the Justin brand(s), that could discourage others from clearcutting these wonderful oak groves.

You can fight nature only for so long

Read this:

California's Central Valley is sinking 2" per MONTH, destroying roads and vineyards, canals and buildings. Wow. This is because farmers are drilling ever-deeper wells.  There is a limit--at some point there is no more water and you hit magma. But it is a very serious matter, as it affects the lives of many millions, for their jobs, for their food, for the future of our largest state (economically). We need stronger government; aquifers need to be protected. I do  not believe we have the right to completely destroy a precious resource, to deprive future generations of it. We must be stewards and not rapists.  This is a nightmare that one strong El Nino cannot remediate.

Just as we must pay the price of switching from such heavy dependence on fossil fuels, we must also convert to more water-smart practices, maybe capturing some snowmelt in some different state, to irrigate some other massive valley with good soil. And it wouldn't hurt many of us if there was a little less food available in the US.

And there may be a mass migration from CA resulting from this as well, which could cripple the mighty state. And Oregon and Washington are not prepared for a mass in-migration; Oregon has strict land-control laws and is already unable to provide housing to all at affordable prices.

This photo is of a dead almond orchard in CA:

Oregon wine grape harvest 2012

Today's Oregonian has an article (front page of the Business section) about the Oregon Pinot harvest. The photo (of Alloro's Pinot Noir grapes on the vine) looks pretty bad to me--many grapes are shriveled from this near-record-setting drought we've had this year. The loss of water in the grapes drives the sugar level crazy high. The article talks about the risk of excessive sugars and the resulting "hot" (high-alcohol) wines.

So I'm modifying my earlier statement about how this is likely to be a generally great vintage; I now think it might be great for some wines. I think the best wines may come from (a) vineyards that irrigated a bit in the past month, to keep the grapes plump but not so much as to dilute flavors; or (b) older vineyards whose roots have better access to groundwater even in this drought.

High-alcohol Pinot is no fun, and if water is added by the winemaker to reduce the alcohol, that can dilute the flavors.

The Fall rains come tomorrow night and hit in earnest on Saturday or Sunday. Goodbye to one of our longest, deepest summer droughts ever in NW Oregon.

Check out the shriveling/raisining on Alloro's Pinot Noir grapes (photo taken from today's Oregonian article):

Pretty Darn Good Harvest Weather

I have a few "modern varieties" of grapes still hanging, but have harvested seven varieties already (they ripen earlier than vinifera do, as a general rule). But I think most vinifera grapes are still out there on the vines. Their growers are glad to see a later-than-average start to our famous Fall rains.

The 15-day forecast shows 100% chance of of our first heavy rain on Oct 15, so that is a target date for some growers who will want to pick before it hits. But other growers who need a touch more ripening may wait through that cycle (they'll rightly say that their grapes needed a quick freshening from some rain; they may even rightly say that a bit of rain can push more carbohydrates (sugars) into the fruit, which at first seems counterintuitive). Too early to tell, yet, when the next rain will come, after the first wave hits. There is typically a following period of regained nice weather, after the first rain.

But usually the first Fall rains come in late Sept or early Oct.

We've had a very unusual drought this year--only 0.25" of rain in the July 1-Sep 30 quarter! That's the least in EIGHTY YEARS! And we always get rain until July 4-5 or so, so this is quite unusual.

Wed, Oct 3		Sunny. Mild.	68°F	48°F	16 mph / NE	22%	66°F	Low	4%
Thu, Oct 4		Sunny. Mild.	69°F	41°F	11 mph / NE	24%	66°F	Low	5%
Fri, Oct 5		Passing clouds. Mild.	69°F	43°F	11 mph / ENE	22%	67°F	Low	5%
Sat, Oct 6		Passing clouds. Mild.	71°F	39°F	10 mph / NE	23%	67°F	Low	8%
Sun, Oct 7		More sun than clouds. Mild.	74°F	37°F	5 mph / ENE	23%	69°F	Low	13%
Mon, Oct 8		Scattered clouds. Mild.	72°F	39°F	4 mph / W	27%	69°F	Low	19%
Tue, Oct 9		Scattered clouds. Mild.	71°F	39°F	6 mph / NW	33%	68°F	Low	27%
Wed, Oct 10		Sunny. Mild.	69°F	35°F	4 mph / NNE	45%	69°F	Low	0%
Thu, Oct 11		Sprinkles late. Mostly cloudy. Mild.	72°F	35°F	7 mph / SSE	73%	74°F	Minimal	26%	0.08"
Fri, Oct 12		More sun than clouds. Mild.	69°F	35°F	1 mph / NE	69%	69°F	Low	10%
Sat, Oct 13		Mostly sunny. Mild.	70°F	36°F	7 mph / NE	50%	70°F	Low	0%
Sun, Oct 14		Light rain late. Partly sunny. Mild.	72°F	39°F	9 mph / S	70%	74°F	Minimal	37%	0.09"
Mon, Oct 15		Rain late. Mostly cloudy. Mild.	70°F	39°F	14 mph / SW	83%	70°F	Minimal	100%	0.71"
Tue, Oct 16		Scattered showers. Mostly cloudy. Mild.	68°F	36°F	11 mph / SW	76%	68°F	Minimal	63%	0.24"
Wed, Oct 17		Light rain late. More sun than clouds. Mild.	64°F	32°F	6 mph / SSE	79%	64°F	Low	20%	0.11"

(above forecast info is taken from myforecast.com)