Vintage 2010 preview

Ask any grape grower, vineyard manager or winemaker and they will tell you that we are fast approaching the time of year that gives them more grey hair and anxiety than any other. That is harvest and the month or so right before the grapes are actually picked. This small window of time can make the difference between a bad, good or great vintage. All of their work is culminating at the same time that risk factors increase and the weather gets fickle.

The 2010 vintage is presenting some unique problems. In interviewing several growers and winemakers, I have heard a mostly unanimous message that these next several weeks are crucial. Harvest universally in California, Washington, Idaho and Oregon is anywhere from 3 to 6 weeks behind the normal schedule. The cool wet El Nino-induced spring delayed the start of the growing season, and the rapidly developing La Nina weather pattern is causing late summer and early fall cooling that may further reduce ripening and hang time, two elements that concentrate sugars, stabilize acid levels in the grapes and produce truly great vintages.

Combine these elements with the coolest summer in 50 years in the grape growing regions of California and growers and vineyard managers are faced with some tough choices. According to winemaker John Lancaster of Skylark Winery in California, "canopy management is taking on added importance." The canopy is a layer of leaves that overhang the grapes and shade them. In cool years like this one growers will frequently thin this layer to give the grapes more exposure to the warmth of the sun to speed the ripening process.

"In fact many growers in California did this recently only to be faced with 100-degree heat last week," Lancaster said, the same dry windy heat wave that affected most of the Northwest. "The unfortunate result when this happens is the grapes become sunburned and can 'raisin'," he added. However, the other risk is if you do not thin the canopy the grapes never ripen sufficiently before fall rains and frost hit, also potentially ruining the crop.

During the interview Lancaster said "if we get a good Indian summer in the west it could end up being a truly great vintage; however we need almost perfect conditions to pull that off. Warm but not hot days, cool but not cold and foggy nights, and no rain before mid-October." All challenging conditions to hope for.

The situation in Washington and Idaho is slightly less daunting as we have had many warm days despite the late start to the growing season from the cool wet spring and early summer. Remember the rain and cool temperatures as late as the Fourth of July?

If the next month or so does not work out to be ideal we could be facing a vintage along the lines of 1998 or 2000. 1998 was a severe El Nino year where many parts of the west were getting cold rain storms through Memorial Day resulting in harvest running late into November and even then some fuller bodied red varietals never fully ripened, resulting in an overall poor vintage. The 2000 vintage was highlighted by a very cool late summer and fall from a developing La Nina where again many varietals simply never ripened, the result was another vintage that could only be rated as poor.

From a scheduling perspective it looks like harvest of white varietals like Chardonnay and Pinot Blanc will be about three weeks late with ideal conditions from here on out and will not be complete until early October. All indications are that harvest of red varietals especially the more robust ones like Cabernet, Syrah and Malbec will not happen before November and may in fact stretch as far out as Thanksgiving, with risk of degrading weather increasing as we get later into fall and as the La Nina pattern continues to develop.

The over used wait and see is all we can really do with this year. My advice while we wait is to continue to collect reds specifically from 2007. It was an historic vintage, combined with generally depressed prices from the current wine glut. While whites from 2007 were also great; there are not many left in the market. We are also finding current release whites and roses from 2008 and 2009 to be very good.

If there is a topic you would like to read about or questions on wine you can e-mail George@thedinnerpartyshop.com or make suggestions by contacting the Healthy Community section at the Coeur d'Alene Press.

George Balling is co-owner with his wife Mary Lancaster of the dinner party - a wine and table top decor shop in Coeur d'Alene by Costco. George is also the managing judge of The North Idaho Wine Rodeo. Information: www.thedinnerpartyshop.com