ugly
English sparkling wine here we come 
Heartbreaking. It is 99 degrees here in Calistoga right now.
Is this really from sun and heat damage or some other underlying problem that heat exacerbated the real issue?
I have seen this when spraying has occurred when temps are too hot. Sometimes when it gets hot 48 hours later.
You don’t want to see it.
That is sunburn … basically the vine, in the interest of self-preservation, has abandoned those berries and stopped providing them with water so they shrivel. I’ve seen it happen here in Oregon in 2015 on vines with western exposure and limited water availability on days with 100+ F temps. It is a discrete event - it doesn’t spread and happens very quickly.
When harvest arrives, those shriveled berries will be hard little bitter raisins. The good news (such as it is) is that when making a sparkling wine, there is no maceration as the grapes are pressed quickly after harvest so there will be no ill effects beyond reduced yields. When making a red wine where skins are macerated, those bitter, hard, underripe berries will soak up and their bitterness will appear in the wine if they aren’t diligently removed at the sorting line (although often they remain on the cluster when destemming).
Todd,
Cool info. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Todd for the response. I did come across this article from the Jordan Winery blog that shows two examples from the 2017 heat wave that hit Napa Sonoma … 2017 Heat Wave Impact on Wine Grapes | Sonoma County Harvest Report . What is interesting is that it’s the combination of no irrigation, too much exposure(de-leafing), and high temperatures on a variety that is really susceptible really hurt the chardonnay grapes shown as the poster child for sunburn. Even though the example given in the blog suggesting non-irrigated grapes has an irrigation system set up. With regards to the Champagne region it’s showing high temperature again today and more for tomorrow. Don’t recall whether irrigation is allowed in Champagne.
Can the sunburned berries become initiation sites for rot like bird or yellow jacket damaged berries often are? I have some this year that I have been removing based on this assumption. But if I don’t have to worry about that then I will just leave them. All will go through a bunch sort to remove obvious rot and straight into the press. No crush and no time on skins.
I will say again that this is classic sunburn. BUT it may have been made worse by spraying for mildew too close to scorching temperatures. I have lived it and seen it.
Jeez, 107 in paris right now. I couldnt imagine paris at 107. I was there in Paris in 2015 when it was 101, and I almost passed out at Versailles. Couldn’t imagine it now.
That was me at the Vatican last month-when it was 100 in late June. Brutal.
104 in Netherlands today. Highest temp in thier recorded history.
Its looking like a good vintage for Keller’s project in Norway.
I just did some random weather checks right now via Google. 106 in Rilly la Montagne (Vilmart), 106 in Cuisles (Mousse), 107 in Polisot (Marie-Courtin). Ouch. I hope the best for these producers, as well as everyone else in the region.
I must say that it really does suck for all of those farmers/growers who might have really bad year because of the extreme heat. I do hope the best for them as well.
The real concern is how long the heat wave will last. At these temperatures, the vines will shut down in order to preserve themselves, and no amount of irrigation will change that in the short term. This happened in our area in 2006 with extreme temperatures for quite some time in July. The vintage was not ‘ruined’, but it certainly changed what looked to be a vintage that would play out like 2005 - evenly spaced and allowing winemakers to ‘control’ picking decisions etc - into one that Mother Nature ruled the roost . . .
Cheers.
104F in London today.
Icelandic wine, here we come!
FYI we are aware of thread. None of us are in front of a computer at the moment. I’ll take care of the issues in the thread once I can tonight.
Thanks.