Harvest 2008 to be ‘exceptional year’

Lee Hudson wasn’t at the annual Napa Valley Grapegrowers press conference called to discuss this year’s growing season and the upcoming harvest: The Carneros grapegrower and vintner was already out picking his grapes.

Plenty of other growers, however, were on hand Monday at Larkmead Winery in Calistoga for the annual report that is broadcast live as far away as Los Angeles and New York.

With harvest of sauvignon blanc grapes already underway around the valley — plus Mumm Napa Valley beginning harvest of grapes for its sparkling wines today, and Larkmead planning to pick Thursday — signs are pointing to a modest yield but excellent quality in 2008, the growers agreed.

“This is going to be an exceptional year,” said vintner Cam Baker, owner of Larkmead, as he poured wine made from 120-year-old tokai friulano vines grown at Larkmead, which was built in 1884. “It’s Larkmead’s 125th harvest.”

As always, Mother Nature dealt out a few wild cards, including a dry spring, a lengthy late April frost and erratic bloom conditions. But these seem to be viewed more as part of a farmers’ lot than singularly devastating events.

The last two weeks in April were exceptionally cold, and the frost was followed by an early heat wave, rain in some places and high winds — all this during the critical bloom period.

“In one week we were using water for frost and heat” in Pope Valley vineyards, said Julie Nord, whose company manages 13 vineyard sites.

“We probably would have had a giant harvest except for the events during bloom,” said Kelly Maher, a vineyard consultant whose clients include Baker, Larkmead and growers from Mendocino to South America. “Potentially we saw one of the biggest crops — like ’05’s — swiftly diminished.”

The effects of the late frost varied widely. “One Howell (Mountain) vineyard was 75 percent burned by frost,” said Pete Richmond, the founder of Silverado Farming Company. But his vineyards on Mt. Veeder, on the other side of the county, suffered no effects.

Richmond predicted some growers could be looking at potentially lower yields this year, “but you’ll have to get me a little drunker to be specific,” he quipped.

“A cold spring is a drier spring, which, as far as I’m concerned defines the season,” said Jon Ruel, vice president for operations at Trefethen Family Vineyards. Ruel noted that Trefethen began irrigating earlier this year, but because the winery recycles water, supply is not a huge concern.

Low groundwater also can result in less vigor in the vines, and therefore smaller canopies, less work trimming them back and smaller berries — which can also mean higher quality.

“I’m optimistic,” said Amy Warnock, a viticulturist for Pahlmeyer Vineyards. “The quantity is slightly lower than ’07 but quality is the best I’ve seen.” 

Like Ruel, Warnock was not too worried about the prevailing drought conditions, because more sophisticated growing techniques generally see farmers using less water. Warnock described, for example, her Pahlmeyer irrigation system, which can be set to water only weaker vines.

The growers addressed another condition they haven’t had to deal with lately: Air quality.

“It has been a catastrophic fire season,” Ruel said, “but a grower myth that may turn into a grower truth is that the smoke may have created a protection from heat” for the grapes. “In some cases, temperatures were 10 degrees lower than predictions,” he added, noting many growers believe the layer of smoke covering the vineyards was responsible.

The rather wild beginning of the 2008 growing season has been followed by a “perfect ripening year,” said grower Bill Hanna, noting that for the most part temperatures in his vineyards this summer have hovered in the 80s. “We’ve had weeks of perfect weather.”