Winemaker's Archives -- George Troquato

2008 Growing Season to Date

“As of mid-August, the 2008 California growing season is shaping up to be ‘the year of the winery’, but not ‘the year of the grower’”, said Winemaker George Troquato. As usual, Mother Nature played the leading role in this development, and a review of her affect on the vintage is quite revealing.

2008 began with a few major storms in January, bringing seasonal rainfall to yearly norms and causing many to believe that last year’s drought would be washed away by a wet winter. This optimism was short-lived as the San Francisco Bay Area faced the driest three months of spring on record. For example, Santa Rosa’s rainfall was a mere .65 of an inch in March, April and May!

Budbreak was delayed until the second week of March (two weeks late) in consequence to the below-average temperatures that accompany clear skies. Adding “injury to insult”, the frost associated with cold weather damaged emerging shoots in some vineyards, but many mountain locations escaped injury due to cool air drainage.

Berry set, another milestone of every growing season, was also hampered by the frost. Furthermore, high winds and variable temperatures in some areas during bloom disrupted pollination, lowering berry set even more said Troquato.

The epidemic of forest fires across California — about 1,400 burning simultaneously at one point — created a veil of smoke in many vineyards, diminishing available sunlight and slowing vine maturation. Fortunately, heat spikes in June and July advanced ripening, and helped vines recover some of the time lost by the cold spring and smoky summer.

“Some of this doom and gloom was beginning to have positive effects on potential wine quality,” said Troquato.

For example, fewer clusters formed as a result of low soil moisture during a second consecutive drought year and the poor berry set. Consequently, less cluster thinning was needed at the onset of veraison (when grapes develop color and soften) to balance the vines, and at 90-95% veraison to remove lagging clusters.

In addition, the dry conditions and poor berry set prompted vines to produce smaller berries. A winemaker’s dream, the inherently high skin-to-juice ratio of small grapes translates to more intense wine flavors.

“2005 and 2006 were good vintages, and 2007 was very good, but ‘08 has the potential to be a stunning vintage,” said Troquato. “We have a small crop that is expected to thoroughly ripen and produce great wine flavors.”

When all is said and done, 2008 may not be the year growers generate a huge return on their investment, but it is shaping up to be one that helps them establish a great reputation for wine quality.