Oregon wine vintage at a glance: 2018 North Willamette Valley [infographic]
To better understand the growing season in a particular area, I’m creating simple infographics for specific years. These easy-to-read charts show the high and low temperatures during the growing season, as well as events that may have affected the grapes during different growth phases. All of these factors contribute to the vintage as a whole. Understanding what happened during the lifecycle of a grape can help you better select your next bottle of wine.
If you haven’t yet read the Winerabble Wine 101: Vintage at a glance infographics article, I encourage you to do so. In it, I explain some foundational basics, including the different grape growing phases and what can affect them, both positively and negatively.
Some call 2018 the Goldilocks year– it wasn’t too cold, it wasn’t too hot… it was just right, temperature-rise. The growing wine grapes thrived in the consistent, warm daytime temperatures, devoid of any heat spikes. According to weather records, it was the eighth warmest year in Oregon’s history.
Phase one: Bud break
A mild winter lead into a growing season that kicked off a wee bit later than usual due to a cool spring with some mild frost events in the weeks prior to bud break. As the grapevines visibly awakened, delicate fuzzy leaves burst from the woody stalks. The temperate weather continued after bud break, ensuring the new leaves were not in danger as the plants raced toward their next phase, bloom. Generally speaking, the Willamette Valley can anticipate bloom to occur roughly 60 days after bud break. However, if the temperatures stay cool, bloom will be delayed until the weather warms up.