Looking back, one must make note of the extreme fluctuations in temperature this year. The warmth that was experienced for the majority of the growing season will most likely have its place saved in Oregon’s record books for many years to come, as will the stretch of cool weather that Mother Nature started the first half of October with. In a year like this, it becomes difficult to make comparisons. I have heard discerning winemakers claim similarities to the most recent vintages of 2006, 2004 and 2003. There have been rumors of post harvest irrigation (i.e. adding water to fermenters) leaking throughout the valley in efforts to dilute high sugar levels. Some say that “this will be a great year for the white wines, but not so much for the reds”. Already there has been a great deal of conflicting opinions, but one thing is always for certain, every block of every vineyard will be affected differently by the weather and every winemaker will process these variations differently from one another.

In the end, its years like these that reveal the makeup of each winemaker. Will they become extremely hands on and play doctor by adding everything from water to acid. Or will they rely on their picking decisions, let the wine be what it is and blend accordingly 10 or so months down the road. Only time will tell and until we get a chance to taste our first barrel samples of what has been a vintage of extremes, we will just have to wait and see.

Although it is too early to know exactly how the vintage will play out in its entirety, what we do know is that this year has been very similar to what we experienced in 2003 and 2006. It has been a very hot/dry summer here in the Willamette Valley and it looks like this weather pattern is only going to continue. What does this all mean? Well, if you like Pinots full of big fruit this might be the year for you, but let’s just wait and see what Mother Nature has up her sleeve…

…(to be continued)