The collective sigh

That collective sigh of relief that is audible to most every wine consumer is coming from grape growers and winemakers around the appellations of the western U.S. After two unbelievably tough years of poor quality harvests and extremely low tonnage of usable wine grape stock, it appears at least for now that the 2012 crop is going to be larger than normal, in some cases much larger, and of very good to great quality!

The stories of how tough 2010 and 2011 were continue to trickle out during discussions with growers and producers alike. Just this past week over lunch with a well known Napa Valley winery I learned that the 2011 harvest was in fact so "dicey," cold and wet that the vineyard manager and winemaker at this property would go into the vineyard each morning and decide what to harvest. This exercise continued for weeks, at times they would pick as little as one vine or one row, or a half a row at a time, holding the grapes in bins prior to fermenting hoping to cobble together enough fruit to actually make some wine.

As we taste more and more wines from these two very tough vintages we find the same inconsistency. The worst hit varietals in these years were Chardonnay, Zinfandel and Syrah in 2010, and all of the late ripening red varietals including Syrah and Cabernet in 2011. It is becoming easier as we taste more of the wine from these years to detect which ones were picked prior to the weather going bad, and the ones that did not experience a high degree of shatter in the spring rains of 2011. The lesson for consumers here as we have said all along is to try before you buy.

This is even more imperative when contemplating buying multiple bottles; your own palate will always be the best barometer of the quality of the wine so caution is still the order of the day when approaching wines from these two years, especially in the absence of your trusted wine professional.

Over the last week we have talked to many folks in the winemaking chain from farmers to cellar hands to owner/winemakers and the consensus for this vintage has all been positive. From Napa and Sonoma Counties of California to the Walla Walla and Columbia River valleys in Washington to Idaho and Oregon the word is that the crop is large by historical standards. This will likely positively affect prices to consumers since the previous two years saw such small harvests due to unripe or in some cases over ripe and "raisined" fruit, prices have remained steady or have increased just purely based on supply and demand.

From both Washington and California the harvest of white wine grapes is either finished or nearly so for the folks we have talked to. The quality is superb according to both winemakers and growers, and specifically John Balletto of Balletto Vineyard in the Russian River Valley said "The crop is huge beyond expectations," thus our thinking on prices - more grapes makes more wine driving prices hopefully lower. Similarly, John Lancaster of Skylark winery was looking at such a large crop of Grenache that they dropped about 30 percent of the fruit to the ground as it was just too much.

While whites are nearly all picked both John Abbott of Abeja as well as Lancaster and Balletto have said that while the sugars are in good shape on red varietals after a near perfect growing season of few heat spikes, that "flavor maturity" and acids in the grapes still need to come into line. Fortunately we have the perfect weather for this process all over the west. The long dry spell throughout this fall with moderate temperatures gives the grapes the much sought after "hang time" when warm days and cool nights balance sugars and acids, and develop the flavor profile winemakers are looking for.

It hasn't been since 2007 and 2008 that we have heard words like "perfect, huge, ideal and great" from so many in the wine supply chain, which bodes well for all of us as wine consumers. The first whites and roses from the 2012 vintage will begin to show up in stores and tasting rooms in the spring of 2013, and we are excited for the arrival! Reds will follow in the years to come and along with all of our winery partners we are exhaling a long awaited sigh of relief for this upcoming vintage.

If there is a topic you would like to read about or questions on wine you can email 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 and writes frequently for the online version of Coeur d'Alene Magazine at www.cdamagazine.com. You can learn more about the dinner party at www.thedinnerpartyshop.com. You can get all of these articles as well as other great wine tips by friending us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/#!/dinnerpartyshop.