We’ve heard a lot of talk about this year’s harvest season in Washington Wine Country. Early on the forecast sounded rather grim for grape growers and winemakers alike so we spoke with several growers around Washington Wine Country to get the skinny post-harvest. Although there is definite contrast throughout the region depending on the elevation and position of the vineyards, several consistent themes emerged. Here are the top problems that were faced, how they were addressed and what some of the early summations and predictions are for the wines.

The Issues

Winter damage – The hard 2010 winter was damaging to some crops, especially those at lower elevations. This resulted in much lighter crop yields for some; although, not nearly to the degree initially expected. Grower Collin Morrel of Lonesome Spring Ranch reported, “last November’s winter throughout the Yakima Valley didn’t have near the effect people were thinking. There were much heavier crops than expected.”

Still crops were lighter all around. As of this article the wine commission had not yet released the numbers but those we talked to were guessing about 20% less.

“We pulled in about 2.5 tons per acre this year,” reported Don Phelps of Hard Row to Hoe Vineyard in the Lake Chelan Wine Valley. Phelps also contracts with numerous vineyards in the Yakima Valley and Mattawa growing regions and says normally he and his growers see a minimum of 3 tons per acre and often more.

Mildew – This Spring saw a slew of heavy rain and went much longer than normal, without the summer’s normal heat waves of years past to help dry out the crops, mildew set in. “You had to spray . . . and spray . . . and spray,” says Dick Boushey, owner of Boushey vineyards and manager of multiple vineyards in Red Mountain and Yakima Valley.

Late Season – Of course the first two issues culminated into this final one but the issues surrounding this late harvest were many. All in all, most vineyards brought in their first grapes about two weeks later than normal and let the grapes hang on the vines a little later as well. For most, however there was a gap between the initial harvest and the bulk of the fruit picking which ended up being compressed into a time crunched, labor intensive harvest period.

“We normally harvest over a 6-8 week time frame but this year was tightly compressed with the bulk of harvest happening in approximately 3-4 weeks,” said Morrell.

“The biggest issue with such a late season,” Boushey comented, “was the logistics of it all. Suddenly wineries, who had been begging for their fruit, were backed up with crushing. Labor and transportation were in high demand, it was just a really intense time frame.”

The Approach - Patience

So what did growers have to do differently this year to cope with these seemingly disastrous issues?

“You really had to ignore the calendar and listen to the grapes,” Boushey believed. “For the people who waited, it paid off.” Morrell agreed and continuously spoke of the need for a lot of patience this growing season.

So there’s intuition and there’s skillful grape growing. The spring rains also brought about prolific crops requiring a lot of thinning and often times an opening up of the heavy canopies that had accumulated atop the vines. “You really had to be proactive on thinning and you needed to have thinned out early,” said Morrell.

These extra measures, the heavy spraying and thinning meant extra labor resulting in a much more expensive growing season. In the end, growers spent more for less.

The Results - Good Balance

So . . . what about the fruit, we asked. “Oh that?” chuckled Boushey. “So far so good. I’m hearing good things. We had larger berries which took longer to ripen but that also yields more juice which is a good thing.”

The saving grace at the end of the tense waiting season was the dry harvest. “We had little rain at the end and so we were able to let the fruit hang on longer to ripen without the worry of rot,” stated Morrell. He also reports seeing and tasting good quality fruit. “I’m seeing good color on the reds, good balance on the whites. All in all, no extremes”

Boushey agreed. “Of course different varieties reacted differently but overall we’re seeing more moderate acid levels and not the higher sugar levels that would result in higher alcohol.”

Phelps had a little different take, “I was seeing and hearing of acid levels all over the place, some high and some low,” he said. “which could make for a winemaking challenge. I don’t predict many fruit bombs. I think we’ll see leaner, more French style of wines.”

The hope in these early observations is that the winemakers will have a little easier time of it in terms of finding balance in their wines. Of course, they will still do their thing and in a year of two we can all sip our samples and see what the year held. For now, it sounds like the growers are happy to be wrapping up the season. As Boushey pulled in his last crop in early November, he awoke the next day to snow. “The party’s over,” he proclaimed. Just in time.