Should Lodi Ca go back to the grass?

So, for years I've enjoyed Seven Deadly Zins. Tonight we drank a 2016 7 Deadly Zins, Lodi Old Vine Zinfandel. Friends, I tell you what: Climate change is real! As parts of Australia and Lodi CA are learning, there is only so much you can do in the winery--if your fruit is being blasted by too much sun and heat, your wines will suffer, and I am very afraid that has now happened to Lodi Zins.

Already, it was super-hot there. For Goshsakes, they harvest their Zins as early as late August!  So much sun and heat. But this 2016 Old Vine Zin was way too black for us--gone are the ripe purple fruits, and though this wine was always lower in acid, now there is very little, and the wine seems too high-alcohol, too flabby, too black. This is very sad. MOVE NORTH! All growers must adjust to this continuing climate change. Maybe Lodi should be growing only Cab Sauv, and let the Zin grape migrate up the map.

Just sayin.

2013's triple whammy of record weather for grapes in the Pacific Northwest

What a year this 2013 has been, for grapegrowers!

1. Some sites in the PacNW saw record heat in July. Above 90 or 95F, a grapevine suspends the fruit ripening process, so very hot days are "lost time" and they can impair the production of fully ripe fruit.

2. The entire region had record rainfall in September, which had heavy impact on a small portion of regional vineyards. Ripening earlier, many of the modern varieties were harvested before the rains, but most of the vinifera had to keep hanging. Fortunately, most of those were able to "hang through" into a dry late September and October. But too much water can dilute the desired flavors in the grapes.

3. In December, we saw very frightfully cold (and suddenly cold) weather: Hermiston OR got down to -8F, Ephrata WA and Yakima WA saw -2F (breaking a record held since 1972), and even sheltered Hillsboro OR (just west of Portland) saw a low of 9F with two weeks of all-day sub-freezing temps. These sudden, extremely cold temps can kill vinifera grapevines, especially younger ones.  Modern varieties of grapes (hybrids) are fine at these temps, however--a real advantage of growing them, as they have hardier American grapes in their lineage.

Fingers crossed for milder weather in 2014!

(image credit: Kendall Jackson winery)