Newsletter Archives > Viticulture

In the Vineyard : Fall 2006

Brian Irvine, member of our 2006 Harvest Crew.

This is the first year of crop at Wind Ridge. Here, Brian Irvine, part of the 2006 harvest crew, clips a cluster sample for crop projections.

Projecting the Vintage

Text & Photography by Anna M. Campbell

"Fermentation and civilization are inseparable" —John Ciardi

After a cool June and an initially tentative bloom, the year has been warmer than most, with several days over 100 degrees even before August came to call. For those from other climes, it’s worth knowing that we in the Willamette Valley must endure only one three-digit day in an average year. That’s why we live here.

Geographical preferences aside, the vine-canopy has filled, and the grapes are rapidly maturing while basking in the ample summer sun. This begs the question: Will the 2006 vintage reflect a warm year, with wines similar to those of 2003? Not necessarily. It’s worth remembering that 2003 and 2004 were once meteorological twins, both raising suspicions of a big, ripe year. However, as harvest approached, disparate weather produced two very different vintages, with lower temperatures lending 2004 wines a cooler-climate feel.

It is common sense among all agriculturalists that no assumptions can be made until harvest (and for winegrowers, the taboo on judging the year’s success often extends past fermentation). In any case, we are at the mercy of the skies, as farmers have been for millennia.

Does that make us fatalists? Not entirely. Thankfully, techniques have improved since the first domestic vines were cultivated some 7,000 years ago, when supplication was perhaps the only means of quality control available to would-be vintners. While there are innate differences between years, there are methods we use to encourage quality fruit and adjust for a given growing season. Much is determined by site, of course, as the recently approved Willamette Valley AVAs demonstrate (check out a map at www.willamettewines.com/map.shtml). The choice of vineyard site, clonal type, vine spacing, and trellis management all influence fruit quality, too. But the work doesn’t stop there. We adjust to a given growing season by manipulating yield. Here’s how it’s done:

Initially, we waltz through the vineyard exclaiming “What a lot of good-looking fruit!” Once the seeds of the grapes harden, the grapes enter the magic period dubbed “lag phase,” when the berry size will nearly double before harvest. We tramp up and down rows and measure plants at random, recording shoots per vine, clusters per shoot, cluster weight, and berries per cluster. With a little analysis, we can then determine the tons per acre for each block. Next, we must decide how much crop to remove to achieve the ripeness we want using what sunshine remains before the Oregon rains arrive. In some cases, this could mean dropping half the fruit.

Backhoe at Wind Ridge. Why, when Willamette Valley grapes sell for upwards of $3,000 per ton, would you drop fruit? Isn’t that akin to throwing money on the ground to decompose?

While grapevines can produce 10 tons per acre (and wine for $5 a bottle), this quality likely indicates a climate not suited to the subtleties of Pinot Noir. And, not what you or we want.

And so we search for the correct balance of quantity and quality in the vineyard. This may mean anywhere between 1.25 and 3 tons per acre depending on site, soil, climate, varietal, clonal type, vine age, previous experience, and the progression of the year’s weather.

For the most current news about this year's harvest, check out Harry's Harvest Report.

ABOVE: Also exciting was the presence of a backhoe at Wind Ridge on August 14th, not to build a Napa-style luxury hotel, but rather to evaluate a 5-foot transect of soil. The samples taken will be analyzed by soil scientists and geologists.