On the west coast we are having very little rain and very warm temperatures. I know there is a LONG time before harvest but the forecast in the near future is quite hot and I don’t see this year’s temps going anywhere but up over the summer. I think I’m out in 2015. Lol.
Winemaker told me it’s a mess in parts of California. Yields like 2011.
Let’s hope the wine is as good as 2011!
Yes…it’s too early, by a couple of years.
The heat is a blessing given what’s coming in the fall. Get the grapes in the winery before the rains.
to even be making assumptions about the 2015 vintage right now are just silly. there is so much going forward that will dictate how this vintage will be remembered. right now, there is very little difference between this and the 2014 vintage, which was stellar. lack of rain is certainly not a bad thing for a lot of CA vintners.
Second time I’ve said this today…
From your mouth to God’s ear.
California needs rain, and loads of it. As you know, even strong El Ninos aren’t completely reliable for precipitation.
The signal for a strong el nino (which looks more likely with every day) is exceptionally robust. It’s pretty reliable, albeit yes, not perfect. Look at the magnitude of this anomaly in CA!
This was supposed to be a bit tongue in cheek and to promote a discussion of current growing conditions-- no need to sharpen up the knives folks. Let’s just have some fun.
Yes.
Perhaps a way to encourage actual knowledge about what is going on would be to ask about details regarding the growing season. Thoughts…observations…your question is suggestive and very negative. We farmers need to feel positive…do what we can…as in every other vintage. If you like wine, and you like Napa Valley wine, you might think about supporting our efforts, rather than undermining them.
We are a long way from 2015 fermentation tanks.
Sorry Merrill. I’m figured the title was ridiculously broad and sarcastic enough to make my tone clear. I guess it wasn’t.
I hope 2015 comes around, we have a child due in November! I need birthyear wines! Hate for my kid to haave the same as me (77) with a horrible vintage.
Would love to hear from some growers, but as a casual Bay Area weather observer it seems like a pretty decent year so far. Early, warm spring, but then May was a little cooler than average overall, June has been maybe a bit warmer than average overall. Kind of has the feeling right now of an average, to slightly warmer than average summer, but too soon to tell if it will really heat up in July, August, or September.
Paul,
I’d disagree slightly on one point. There is one significant difference between this year and 2014 and that is in yields in Pinot Noir, particularly in the Central Coast. Yields are far lower. Pinot yields are lower in the North Bay as well, but the drop is less precipitous.
Adam Lee
Siduri Wines
thank you very much for the info- not a big follower or fan of central coast pinot, so i appreciate hearing how things are as i don’t follow closely. hope 2015 turns out great for you and others.
I track the weather pretty closely and compare it to prior years.
Winter and early spring were historically warm…warmer than last year. In ‘coastal sonoma’, the average temps (day + night temps) were in the low 50’s, instead of the high 40’s for a typical year. So, the vines started growing very early this year.
Mid-late spring otoh, in ‘coastal Sonoma’, was quite cool. So cool that May temps were very similar to May 2011.
June has had some heat spells and the average temps are higher, of course, but are still in a normal range compared to the last 10 or so years.
Overall, 2015 so far looks to be a bit cooler than 2014 (at the same time) and 2013, and roughly similar to 2012 (tho 15 is much earlier than 12). Course, this applies to Sonoma, but I assume this applies to other coastal regions…and possibly the more inland ones as well.
Looks like it’s going to be warm for the next week (or two). Beyond 2 weeks, I have no faith in the accuracy of weather forecasts. I’ve spent a lot of time looking at long range forecasts and their predictive ability hasn’t been any better than flipping a coin, sadly.
I don’t see any problems with 2015 yet. Of course I have my fingers crossed that we avoid any bad harvest heat waves…esp for vineyards with lower yields.
2010 was one of the tougher years because of the super cool temps through august followed by a series of killer heat waves. Yet, some excellent wines still got made.
Not relevant to 2015, but 2011 was hard for other reasons, esp if you wanted to make bigger/riper wines…but if you wanted to make the wines 2011 wanted to make, it was great.
2015 will be a bust. Don’t buy. Start drinking beer!
Ron, I just got back from a WA/OR vacation. Your OP and comments about the heat I definitely experienced while visiting Walla Walla and Willamette Valley (especially Walla Walla). It looks the Columbia Valley is going to get 7+ days of 100+ (up to 110) heat and high nighttime lows (70+)… I’m definitely interested to see how the rest of their season turns out and how that heat plays into things. Looks like Willamette Valley is getting some heat but it appears that it would moderate sooner.
From what I’ve seen in Santa Barbara County, the growing season has been cool since an early start. We’ve had a number of overcast days and even some isolated rain events. It’s definitely slowed things down.
It’s seemed from a distance that Oregon has been unusually hot this past month. I think overall, California has not been warmer than average in wine regions, though.
Honestly, I’m doing it more and more. Yesterday’s bike ride had a stop for take-out sandwiches, carted over to a little microbrewery with pleasant outdoor seating. $5 for a tasty 16oz glass of 2015 vintage Kolsch…selected after sampling 3 beers for free. There’s a $10 growler in the fridge from a different local microbrewery…again selected after tasting a few for free.
Affordable, diverse, local, convenient and good quality. In PA (and I suspect most places) there’s nothing remotely close to this level of QPR and accessibility for wine.
RT
Kevin Harvey’s Rhys twitter account seems to indicate that 2015 will be a terrible vintage for Rhys, at least in terms of yields.