How’s Harvest 2022 Shaping Up?

Our growing season has been characterized by resilience thus far. Bud break, which kicks off the growing season in mid-April, was interrupted at some sites with frost on April 13-14, which means that vineyards that had already experienced bud break saw loss or damage. We then had an extremely cool late spring, punctuated by one of the rainiest Junes on record. However, we have had a warm and dry July and August to date, so crop loads have been gaining steam and development looks healthy. Here are three things we know about the vintage so far:

1) Light- As a result of the April frost, crop loads will be lighter than average. I was hoping for a robust vintage after a minimal 2020 due to smoke impact and a slightly lighter 2021, but there will simply be less of it.

2) Late- Historically, we would begin harvest in mid October. However, climate change has pushed our harvests of the past decade much earlier- sometimes to the beginning of September. This year will likely be a return to normal with a cooler October harvest season.

3) Lovely- That said, I love later harvest vintages. A mid October harvest gives us 6 weeks more of clusters developing on the vine, which represents a 25% increase in an overall growing season of 6 months. This allows the grapes to develop phenolic ripeness, or the building blocks of tannin structure, and flavor development. Some of my favorite vintages of Pinot Noir in the Willamette Valley- 2005, 2010, and 2012- have been mid October harvests.

I’ll keep this updated as we get underway. Cheers! -Jessica