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2012 Oregon wine grape harvest reflects one of the driest growing seasons on record

Following two of the coolest vintages on record, Oregon winemakers are now struggling to cope with one of the driest.
Gone are worries about low sugar levels and worrisome prospects of entire vineyards never fully ripening because of the long, cold springs in 2010 and 2011.
Bumping those concerns aside this year for the state’s $2.7 billion commercial wine industry are soaring sugars, which can yield wines with too much alcohol, and widespread shriveling of grape clusters brought on by an almost complete lack of rainfall since July.
The result is that many vintners, feeling the need to limit potential losses, are forsaking the extended hang time needed for ideal flavor development.
“We’re seeing a lot of drought stress out there, depending on the site,” said Jessica Cortell, an Amity-based consultant who manages 15 vineyards and consults on another handful. “Canopies are turning yellow and leaves are dropping, forcing people to harvest sooner than later.”
Continuing dry conditions mean that vineyards with irrigation systems appear to be in superior shape when compared with those pursuing dry-land farming, Cortell said.
“We’ve irrigated some vineyards the last few weeks and are definitely seeing a difference,” she said. “Some feel strongly about not irrigating, but I see it as a powerful tool. It gives you more options.”
Kevin Chambers, former president of the Oregon Wine Board and owner of Resonance Vineyard near Carlton, is among the many feeling the pinch to harvest now, before sugar levels soar out of sight.
“I’m picking like a mad man,” Chambers said. “And in the end, I think we will get some very good wines from 2012.”
But, since growing conditions in any particular year are so tied to the wines that vintage will produce, he elaborated — perhaps at his own peril — on his preference for cool over warm years.
“This year’s wines will be big fruit bombs, very California-like,” Chambers said. “I’ll get shot by my cohorts for saying that, but I’d rather have years like 2008, 2010 and 2011. We truly make better wines in those years.”
Elsewhere in the state’s main wine-grape growing areas, similar concerns are playing out.
At Agate Ridge Vineyard in Eagle Point, increased irrigation is being credited for keeping any shriveling of grape clusters to a minimum.

“We’ve done a lot more short irrigation sets than we typically do, but it seems to be paying off nicely,” said Kim Kinderman, the operation’s general manager. “Things have been very, very dry, but the fruit is beautiful.”
Kinderman expects to wrap up harvest within two weeks. Last year, by contrast, crews were still out in the vineyards well into November.
“Every year I say I wish we could have a normal harvest,” she said. “I don’t know that one even exists.”
Scott Hagee, owner of Pheasant Valley Winery in Hood River, is thankful to have drip irrigation lines snaking through his vineyards.
“I’m only down about 10 percent from last year’s crop, but people without irrigation are down considerably more than that,” said Hagee, who started growing wine grapes after the bottom fell out of the apple and pear markets he’d been serving for 20 years. “If we can just get through this harvest without any extended frosts, we should be fine.”
Greg Jones, a professor and research climatologist at Southern Oregon University in Ashland, forecast last winter what is happening now in vineyards across Oregon. Drawing on data from ocean and atmospheric temperature studies, he predicted that 2012 would be a rebound year from the prior two colder-than-normal seasons.
“We still have some cold water out there, but nowhere near as cold as 2010 and 2011,” he said. “Some things have changed just a little bit to make this year much more normal.” Another meteorological bonus is a high-altitude blocking system that’s been shunting rainstorms north toward Alaska, he said.
“By now, the state of Oregon should have had three or four major rain events and we haven’t had any,” Jones said. “And while a lot of people had to pick a little earlier than they’d have liked this year, you are still going to see a lot of smiles on peoples’ faces by the time this harvest is over.”
– Dana Tims
Related topics: agate ridge vineyard, carlton, greg jones, hood river, jessica cortell, oregon wine board, pheasant valley winery, resonance vineyard, southern oregon university

http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2012/10/2012_oregon_wine_grape_harvest.html

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