Even with the damage to vines in certain areas across the state last winter, the overall size of the 2004 crop was not down as much as expected because of an increase in bearing vineyard acres coming into production.  If this winter stays as mild as it has been, watch for record grape crops from Washington State in the next few years.

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2003 HARVEST NOTES

This 2003 harvest marks the sixth consecutive season Washington wines have had a good year. The original crop tonnage estimates for the 2003 growing season came in at 124,000 tons at the end of July. This marked the highest Washington State crop ever. Picking, though, came in anywhere from 15 percent to 25 percent below that figure. Industry leaders said weather was the biggest factor this year: a cooler spring, a scorching summer that kept the berry size down, followed by a spell of warm weather in the autumn that lengthened the grapes' hang time on the vine and improved flavor. Although growers in Washington State harvested less fruit this year than expected, the smaller quantity means more intense flavors and an exceptional 2003 vintage. Many winemakers I’ve talked with are most pleased this year with the cabernet grapes, which thrive in the hot weather Washington State had this summer. In a cooler year, merlot tends to shine, but even it looks exceptional so far. Our 2003 whites are chock full of fruit intensity and flavor to ensure that the entire 2003 crop was a great vintage.

The 2003 year ended with growers harvesting a crop of 112,000 tons of grapes, down 3% from the year before. Wine is a $2.4 billion business in the state, with more than 200 wineries and 300 wine grape growers, according to the Washington Wine Commission. The state is the country's second-largest producer of wine, only behind California.

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2002 HARVEST NOTES

WASHINGTON STATE WINE INDUSTRY YIELDS SPECTACULAR VINTAGE
Quality sums up the 2002 Washington state wine grape harvest, which concluded the first week of November. Final numbers reached 109,750 tons, a nine percent increase from the 2001 - 100,000 ton crush. Winemakers statewide attribute the quality crop to lower yields per acre.

Many growers thinned their crop throughout late summer and early fall to ensure lower yields and richer flavors. The strategy to focus on quality worked. It was a spectacular vintage. The fruit was flavorful and colors were some of most intense I’ve ever experienced.

The Washington State winemakers and growers use a variety of indicators to define proper picking time and a quality vintage. The primary indicators, small berry size, well-balanced flavors and intense color pigmentation, all were achieved as a result of the lower yields per acre. The industry thinned an average of seven percent of the expected crop to achieve top quality.

The growing season began cool, then warm temperatures (mid to high 90’s) put the crop ahead of schedule in some areas. Harvest for us began on September 18th, nearly 10 days later than some other wineries, but as cool weather hit in late September activity slowed down. We all welcomed cool temperatures allowing the fruit to mature and intensify flavors. The majority of the state’s wine grapes were harvested by mid-October, with the exception of some fruit held in hopes of making late harvest/ice wines. Our last grapes, Sangiovese, came out of the vineyards on October 24th. On October 31, Halloween night, winemakers wishing to make ice wine did so thanks to Mother Nature’s freeze, which is required to make this possible.

The 2002 harvest is the fifth consecutive high quality vintage — 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001 wines rank among top reviews by wine opinion leaders. Washington is home to more than 28,000 vineyard acres, 300 wine grape growers and more than 200 wineries. Red wine varieties continue to excel as demand strengthens — the ratio of red to white wine grape varieties are 57 percent red to 43 percent white. Most widely planted varieties include — Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Chardonnay and Riesling.

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2001 HARVEST NOTES

ANOTHER GREAT YEAR FOR WASHINGTON STATE
Another great vintage. Following a mild winter with negligible bud damage, Washington State enjoyed a typical growing season with regards to temperature and vine development. The main weather-related story was a severe drought that impacted the entire NW region, limiting water for irrigation, salmon runs and hydroelectric power. However, due to the knowledge gained from droughts in 1977 and 1994, cooperative efforts by the various agencies that regulate river water usage and judicious irrigation practices by growers, very few juice or wine vineyards saw significant impact from the drought.

There was only minor spring frost damage to early varieties in low-lying area. One hail and rain storm swept through in June causing localized damage to a few vineyards, but the main impact was on the tree fruit industry.

Harvest began on schedule in early September. Moderate crop levels and cooperative weather resulted in a very smooth harvest, with a slight lull in early October when transitioning to later varieties. Fruit was harvest at full maturity, and quality for all varieties appears to be very good. Due to the very gradual transition into fall, most vineyards retained leaves into November, and wood maturity appears excellent for another record crop in 2002.

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2000 HARVEST NOTES

RECORD WINE GRAPES FOR WASHINGTON STATE
On top of a record grape crop of nearly 89,000 tons (a 25% increase over 1998’s record of 71,000 tons), this year’s fruit condition was “near perfect”. For us harvest began on September 20th with Muscat Canelli and with the exception of Lemberger, which is always last and typically very late, ended on October 10th with Cabernet Sauvignon. The Lemberger came straggling in almost a month later on November 9th.

I’d summarize this vintage by saying: “GREAT ACIDITY”. Our northern latitude here in Washington gives us two more hours of sunlight each day than California so we are able to produce fruit of great ripeness. Coupled with cool nights to help maintain acid, we get balanced wines full of varietal flavor. With the moderate temperatures during the late fall and summer this past year, acid levels were maintained higher than seen in many years. The result will be wonderfully crisp, fruity wines

For the first time in a long time, we harvested enough grapes to stuff the winery full — 28,763 gallons. I’d forgotten how difficult it was playing musical tanks. When all was done, I had only one empty tank left. The reds are very berry-like and their color is intense. If we run out of ink here we can refill our pens with Cabernet. The Riesling is wonderfully fruity and because of the higher acid, a little sweeter than I normally leave it. The Chardonnay has not yet completed malo-lactic fermentation but my initial reaction is very positive. There is wonderful fruit flavors and the buttery character from the MLF is becoming more pronounced as time passes.

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1999 HARVEST NOTES

VERY LATE START BUT MOTHER NATURE HELPED
This vintage’s harvest was the latest I can remember in Washington State. The spring and early summer were very cool which resulted in bud break and berry set two to three weeks behind normal. Oddly enough this phenomenon was not restricted to the Pacific Northwest. When we were traveling in Italy and Provence in May, everyone there was complaining of the same thing. And upon our return we found out that California was at least two weeks behind also. Our summer was warm but not enough to make up for the lack of heat earlier. Many vineyardists fearing a large crop that would not ripen, began the process of cluster thinning their vines. By hand the growers removed 20 to 25% of the existing immature grapes. This would allow the vine to devote all its energy to ripening a smaller fruit load. Heat units through August for Washington’s growing areas were some of the lowest seen since recording started. Fortunately Mother Nature blessed us with a very long, almost Indian Summer-like, fall. Once grapes started coming in, we could see the result of the diligent vineyard management — lots of flavor and intensity. The red wines have loads of color and fruit and the whites are wonderfully crisp with exceptionally high acid levels.

Our total harvest was nearly 25,000 gallons, down from the 28,000 we had hoped for. We were wanting to increase our reds production this year to make up for the low years of ‘96 and ‘97. This would have allowed us the ability to have more bottle age on these wines before releasing them to market. Oh well — maybe next year.

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1998 HARVEST NOTES

What a difference a year makes -- harvest began this year two and one half weeks earlier than in 1997.   Initially we thought we would be done picking and have everything cleaned up and put away by the time October 1st arrived but we were way off.  The nice warm, dry fall turned cool near the end of September and harvest slowed to a near standstill after passing into its second week.  After seeing nothing come out of the vineyards for nearly two weeks, we resumed on October 2nd and continued picking until November 1st -- the latest date I can remember in a long time.  The positive side to this long hang time was the amount of fruit character the grapes developed.  And contrary to what might be considered normal, most grapes came in with wonderful acid levels.  In fact, some were as high as we have ever seen.  The resultant wines turned out to be superb.   The Riesling and Muscat are crisp and tart, the Chardonnay rich and buttery, and the reds intense and fruity.  I think 1998 will be a vintage marked by memorable wines -- nothing huge and bold, but across the board the quality was exceptional.

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1997 HARVEST NOTES

Weather conditions for the 1997 growing season were near ideal.  We saw total heat units for the vineyard areas slightly above average with very few mid-summer extreme temperatures.  The season finished off with a long, mild fall.  As a consequence of these favorable conditions, flavor and color development was excellent.  It was one of the better recent vintages in terms of balance between weather and fruit quality.  Because the vineyards were still recovering from the killing freeze during the winter of 1995/96, crop levels were down slightly from normal.  This contributed even more to the concentration of flavors and acid levels.  In fact, high acid levels were the rule this year instead of the exception.

A nice crisp (almost apple-like) finish is the predominant feature of all our 1997 light and fruity wines.  In fact, I stopped the fermentation on all these wines at a sugar level higher than normal just to balance the higher-than-normal acid level.  The consumer probably won't detect this because the acid-sugar balance is wonderful.  I wish we had grapes like these to use every year.

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1996 HARVEST NOTES

The harvest of 1996 is one both growers and winemakers would like to forget. The February vine-killing freeze and subsequent continued cool temperatures combined to produce a growing season that none have experienced nor would hope to repeat. Growers once again rose to the challenge nature presented. Pruning practices were altered to compensate for bud damage; significantly increasing an expected short crop. Our climate in Washington State offers, at the same time, both great rewards and great risks. Perhaps there is something about growing grapes on the edge of climatological feasibility which gives Washington wines their distinctive character.

Harvest for us started on September 27th. and lasted less than two weeks - ending on October 8th. The small amount of grapes we did get (a 30% reduction from normal) produced some of the best wines we've seen in years. An exceptional German-styled Riesling,rich full-bodied Chardonnays and dark fruity reds will highlight his vintage for us.

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