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Each year by mid-June we have a pretty clear snapshot of at least the start of the wine grape growing season. Much happens in the vineyards during spring and early summer that can have big effects on the size and quality of the vintage. What grape growers and winemakers alike watch for and hope against are the things that can negatively impact the crop, and there are many. This is the time of year when the bundles of grapes are set and all kinds of weather, either too much or too little of them are a bad thing for wine grapes. This is when the foundation of the vintage is set, making it vitally important to all that comes as the grape growing season progresses. It is also the time of year when we talk to growers and producers to be able to let you know how things are coming along.

On my own personal weather feed on my desk top at the shop and on my phone, I watch various locations around the Western US, and much of the time this spring I have been struck by something very unusual. It has been cooler in Napa and Sonoma and surrounding counties in Northern California than it has been here at home! And not just a little cooler, but a lot. I have seen days during the warm spells of May and early June here, that temperatures in the wine valleys of Northern California have been 30 degrees cooler. Other anecdotal reports from friends and customers who have traveled up and down the “golden state” report similar conditions as far south as San Diego, effectively encompassing all of the wine growing regions statewide.

In multiple email exchanges with growers this week, they have described the weather being “down right cold” and explaining that the crop is “way behind” where it should be by now. We have seen this pattern previously in 1998 and 2000 among other years that on the heels of a very wet winter, which California clearly had this year, that it takes some time for the weather to return to the sunny, warm and dry pattern those in the wine business prefer. We hope the weather turns soon for all of our friends in California.

If there is a silver lining to this story, it has further curtailed the need for water in the vineyards. The ground remains wet and reservoirs remain full providing a rosy outlook for moisture and reduced wildfire risk this year.

Closer to home in the vineyards of the Northwest it has been a very good start to the year. Temperatures have been, until this week, consistently warm and sunny. May got the growing season in the vineyards of Oregon, Washington and Idaho off to a very fast start, which will allow for some margin of slow down when we encounter cool spells like this last week.

In the vineyards around Washington there has been some early crop damage from shatter this spring when the often-severe storms and heavy rain have moved through the area. While it has continued to provide ample water supply to make it through the growing season the heavy rain and occasional hail have fractured some of the grape bundles. While not severe, no damage is welcomed at the early stages of the set of the crop.

Around Europe the season is off to a much better start than the previous two years. In both 2021 and 2022 Europe experienced very cold conditions with frost wiping out many vineyards before things could even get started. In addition to killing frosts, they also experienced strong storms with rain and hail finishing off the vines that made it through the cold start of those years. 2023 However is thankfully starting off much calmer and warmer making for a better start to the vintage so far.

There is much of the growing season still to go, providing time for the challenges in some areas to be worked out. For most areas outside of California we are off to a very good start providing for a solid foundation for the 2023 vintage. We will continue to update you right here as we carefully watch the weather and other factors that can affect the grape crop around the appellations of the Northern Hemisphere.

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George Balling is co-owner with his wife, Mary Lancaster, of The Dinner Party, a wine and gift shop in Coeur d’Alene by Costco. The Dinner Party has won the award for best wine shop in North Idaho twice, including for 2018.

George is also published in several other publications around the country. After working in wineries in California and judging many wine competitions, he moved to Coeur d’Alene with Mary more than 10 years ago to open the shop.

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