The 2004 vintage was bizarre from
the very get go, starting actually in 2003 with one of the hottest
and driest years on record. The extreme heat dried out the soils
to very deep levels, and the grapevines' roots weren't able to absorb
their usual water supply. At the beginning of the 2004 season, the
vines were still stressed from the previous hot season and from a relative
lack of water during the winter. While the summer of 2003 was incredibly
hot, the winter was marked with extremes of mild warm spells and frigid
ice storms.
In March 2004, we had
several uncharacteristic hot days with temperatures climbing up
over 90 Fahrenheit. The conditions pushed early bud-break and started
the season before the usual date. When the shoots had reached 2-4
inches in length, cool weather returned and the vines' growth ground
to a halt. The vine shoots were pale green bordering on yellow -- they
could not get the nutrition they needed, with the cold wet ground and
miserable weather.
Josh and Caroline Bergstrom
People feared the worst, believing there
might be heavy frosts or hail. Fortunately, neither happened.
We did
experience something not seen in Oregon in recent years. The vines
were “constipated”,
if you will, with excess Nitrogen. This Nitrogen was created during
the unusual warm spell experienced in March, 2004. The premature growth
of new shoots on the grapevines produced Nitrogen, which was then
trapped in the plant, and had no way of escaping. Grey, rainy
days kept photosynthesis low and plant metabolism sluggish. This phenomenon
induced an "inflorescence necrosis” --
a killing off of the vines' flowers. Coupled with poor weather
again at bloom, many vineyards in the area ended up with 30-70% less
grape clusters than is usual. Some vineyards in the Dundee Hills almost
lost their entire crop.
Grapes with necrosis, July, 2005
At the same time, we noticed that several
of the vines' shoots on each plant were shorter by 1-2 feet than the
other shoots, leaving the canopy looking like a “W” instead
of a solid curtain of vine leaves. This retardation of growth meant
that several clusters per plant were at least one week behind the other
clusters of the same plant in maturity and ripening. We had to act
fast to eliminate the green clusters at color change to ensure a homogeneous
ripening of the vineyard's fruit.
In August we endured several small
but drastic storms which dropped close to 3 inches of rain in some
areas. This rainwater quickly saturated the soils and was taken up
by the vines' feeder roots, resulting in bloated berries. In some
clusters, several of the smaller “shot” berries exploded
under the bloating pressure, leaving a perfect environment for mold
to grow. And mold did grow. The burst berries quickly became host to several
species of molds, mostly aspergilla and penicillin -- blue and green
molds similar to those seen on an old loaf of bread. At this point, with
rain on the horizon, we had to enter the vineyard quickly and spray, to
try and stop the mold from growing and creating a perfect environment for
the development of botrytis and grey rot.
As if this were not enough, the forecast
again changed for the worse, and it proceeded to rain steadily and
sometimes quite heavily for 15 days straight. For most of us it felt
like the apocalypse.
For the older Oregon winemakers it felt like “the
good old days” when
Oregon vintages rarely saw the 14-15% alcohols we've seen over the
past 4 years. Having lived in Burgundy and seen the conditions that
they endure, I wasn't as worried as the vineyard owners who began to
frantically pick in the rain, hoping to salvage some sort of marketable
product.
But great wines come from great patience,
and many Oregon wineries were rewarded by waiting through the rain,
because on September 20th , the sun came out and it stayed out for
another two and a half weeks, with temperatures staying in the high
seventies and low eighties. The fruit recovered beautifully with sound
acids and decent sugars. Some vineyards' fruit ripened so well that
it tasted like the rain had not happened, and the grapes continued
their ripening process in the Willamette Valley's "Indian Summer" to
yield magnificent fruit.
It was not all gloom and doom during 2004.
In fact it was once again one of the hottest summers we have seen in
decades. We had at least 15 days where the temperature peaked over
95 Fahrenheit and at least twice that many where the temperature was
at least 90. It goes to show, though, that wine quality and vintage
character are made up of a series of averages marked by several extreme
and well placed weather events. You never know what you have until
the day of harvest. Luckily this year we found ourselves once again
harvesting under sunny skies with very nice fruit.
The 2004 wines will be lovely pinot noirs
with high acids and very respectable alcohol levels (13-14.5%) They
will smell and taste like Pinot Noir with crisp and well-delineated
red fruits. This will be a vintage for medium to long term cellar potential
and reminds me of a hypothetical blend of the 1999's and 2002's.
copyright 2005 Bergstrom Wines Inc reprinted
with permission
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