Napa Vintners Review Erratic Season

 
San Francisco, Calif. -- The growing season started with frost, fire and drought, but as harvest season drew to a close Tuesday, representatives from the Napa Valley Vintners were optimistic about the 2008 vintage when speaking at the Ferry Building in San Francisco. Exact data on yields were not yet available, because some wineries still were bringing in Cabernet Sauvignon, which Bruce Cakebread, president of Cakebread Cellars, said may see a decline in tonnage because of the spring frost.

"Like a good tennis match, this season has been all over the court," said Susan Boswell of Chateau Boswell Winery. "With all the irrigation turned off, much of our Cabernet is still out there hanging."

Though vineyards started the growing season with full reservoirs, many were quickly depleted by nights of frost protection. The careful irrigation management that followed--in addition to a springtime rain event--is linked to smaller berry size this year, which the winegrowers said goes hand-in-hand with flavorful fruit. Color, tannins and good extraction will be seen as attributes of the 2008 vintage, said the speakers, who also included Christopher Howell of Cain Vineyard & Winery.

Three separate vintages?

Due to the rocky start to the growing season, vineyard managers across Napa Valley had differing ideas about when the fruit should be brought in, and Cakebread said that in some ways the valley's 2008 wines should be judged as three separate vintages because there is such a discrepancy in terms of harvest dates.

Mario Monticelli, winemaker at St. Helena's Trinchero Family Estates, said the uncharacteristically high early morning temperatures in late August and early September prompted him to harvest 10 to 12 days earlier than normal to prevent berries from shriveling. Mike Westrick of Sterling Vineyards, on the other hand, said the recent cool fall weather has lengthened hang times on Cabernet Sauvignon at his Calistoga site.

Rick Aldine said harvest for Domaine Chandon's sparkling wines began Aug. 8, while Philippe Melka and Keith Emerson of Vineyard 29 said the Cabernet Sauvignon harvest is expected to continue through Friday.

2008 Napa Valley Harvest At A Glance
 

 
Night harvest

Intense heat spikes in late August and early September encouraged many growers to use cold soaking and harvest at night, which is believed to add freshness, lower sugars and produce more delicate reds. An added advantage, said the panel, which also focused on climate change and a Napa Green program, is that night harvesting saves energy that normally would be used to cool the grapes.

"A nice, long growing season allowed growers to be back in control," after an unwieldy start, Cakebread said. He described this year's vintage as being like 1999 or 2001, with the white wines producing clean fruit like the 2007 vintage. Good acidity and tannins matched to fruit character make the 2008 vintage a good candidate for aging, he said.

As for yields, reports up and down the Napa Valley varied widely, though the vast majority of growers expected totals to be lower than average. Jon Ruel of Trefethen Family Vineyards reported an intake around 10% lighter than average, while Jac Cole of Spring Mountain Vineyard said yields will be down as much as 40% for Bordeaux varieties, and as much as 50% for Syrah.

"2008 will be a year of high quality and intensity," he said, "but low in quantity."