2017 West Coast Vintage Weather Thread

Fine, Casey, then I’ll start it…

Snow here in So Hum, even down in Briceland at 600 ft. Snowing now and has been off and on most of the day. Looking forward to getting pruning done early this year, but not yet…

And a happy 2017 to all the growers, producers and others who follow these threads each year!

It is cold in Napa Valley - I heard that the expected temperatures are the coldest in 20 years. But when the sun is out in the afternoon, you can still enjoy the warmth of the sun while enjoying a glass of wine, overlooking the vineyards.

Today has been sun, then downpours, then rainbows. All within 10 minutes of each other, and then repeated several times. It is quiet up here, just the way I like it.

The mountain tops are shrouded in rain and fog, so I have not seen any snow. Maybe there was some there this morning before I awoke at 8:30! champagne.gif

This was the scene this morning when it got light enough for a picture. It’s gone now around my house but there could be plenty tomorrow morning.
IMG_20170102_094812230.jpg

2017 started with the first significant snow since 2013…

Great pictures Paul!

Generally speaking, does snow help/hurt anything for the subsequent vintage?

Lots of rain this week. I expect to see a pic of Floodgate any day now. At least the cold put the vines to sleep this year.

Maybe the cold will push bud break back to a more reasonable point in the spring so that we don’t have to sweat frost for 3 months and contemplate Labor Day harvests. A return to the Old Normal timing of the growing season would be welcome.

Corey

I like the snow and cold - this past month there were at least a dozen nights with temps below freezing. It shuts down the vines hard, delaying bud-break and thus reducing risks of spring frost damage and pushing harvest into (cool) October. Plus the cold kills bugs.

Plenty of big ass wind that usually comes with a robust storm. We’ve had some decent rains today. 5-10 day forecast keeps changing which doesn’t shock me for this time of year.

(Bump for bookmark)

We finally have a totally clear (but cold) day. Temperature at noon is around 47 degrees. Tonight, depending on which forecast you hear/believe, we could see 25 degrees. No, it will not harm the vines, but it can mess with water pipes and certain vegetation. Then tomorrow night, we are supposed to start with the rains again, which are scheduled to go through the weekend and into the week.

Good thing there is plenty of football on this weekend, not to mention all that available indoor time to start work on the income taxes.

Great to see the weather blog kick off 2017. Sounds like the recent rainfall is replenishing ground water levels, collection ponds, etc. [thumbs-up.gif] Now some cold to potentially delay bud break! Nice start to the new year! [cheers.gif] Now that the 2017 growing season is underway, how are the 2016s starting to look in the cellar? [popcorn.gif]

I need to look at my 2016s. And more closely at my 2015s. I had a nasty accident and am still experiencing the effects of the injury. I’ll report back when I taste them all, barrel by barrel. If anyone is around in the next couple of weeks, let me know. Would welcome another opinion or 2.

Merrill, off topic - I picked up a six-pack of the 2010 Black Cat at MacArthur Beverages before the holidays to send to several clients. I spoke with Andy who thought it would be drinking pretty well right now. Any thoughts? Thanks!

Lucky you! I have none at my warehouse, and none at my shipper. I have maybe a case or so in my Library. Gone - so good score!

This one is drinking well with a 2-4 hour decant. It is one of my bigger boys, but has moved into a nice window. Not going to fall off the earth any time soon, though. Andy meets with me every summer here at the ranch, I show at their tasting every year, and he and the Bassins staff know my wines very well. So you and anyone else can rely on them to give you a good steer.

Major winds all night long and even now at 6:00 am. I don’t think we’ve had a ton of rain yet (I’m not going out to the rain gauge in my jammies!) But things are supposed to get even more wild. Hold on folks!

It started to rain here before midnight last night, and from what I can tell, has not stopped. The lower areas of my yard are already filled with water - lots of puddles on the driveway. Fortunately, the vineyard is very flat, and I have never seen it pool up. The cover crop is very dense, so if there IS any standing water, you would not see it. A couple of vineyard blocks down the way at Kenefick and Frediani have drainage that enables flooding there, so I have seen it go over the road in the past. Since this is not supposed to stop until Thursday, guess I should make my way to the store soon.

The recent cold temps are undoubtedly a good thing for reducing disease pressure (e.g. killing the bacteria that causes Pierce’s Disease). Not sure how much they would delay bud break, though, nor do I think they’ll affect the timing of Harvest.

There’s not a ton of research that I know of regarding a correlation between cold temps and delayed bud break, but you do need a certain number of heat hours to bring the vines out of dormancy, which can happen in the space of a week. As for earlier or delayed Harvests, believe that’s more affected by weather later in the growing season and what kind of yields the vines are carrying.

Just a couple of thoughts. Hope everyone is staying dry!!

Mike

I do not care what the “research” says, cold pushes back budbreak. At our vineyard the last three years have had little frost/snow/cold and budbreak has been in March. Every other winter has seen colder temps and budbreak has been in April.
Our budbreak to harvest is also very consistent, but we are in a marginal high altitude coastal Mendocino location. Valley floor Napa/Sonoma may be very different.

Over five 1/4 inches since I emptied it yesterday morning. It only goes up to 5.25

Took a short break and now it’s back. Big winds and no PGE too.

My Honda generator is earning its keep. [cheers.gif]