Focus on Washington: Hot Times in the Desert

BY STEPHEN TANZER |

As desert-dwellers, Eastern Washington’s grape growers and the winemakers who love them have always had strategies for dealing with hot, dry weather. The Washington wine industry is built on irrigation, and its cleverest players have continually sought out less extreme sites to plant their vines—cooler expositions, higher elevations, more water-retentive soils—as well as dramatically improved their selections of clones and rootstocks to match their various sites.

Washington State AVA Map courtesy of Washington State Wine. <a target=Click for high resolution version" src="https://allgrapes.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads%2F1447337625989-Washington+State+AVA+Map-small.jpg">

Washington State AVA Map courtesy of Washington State Wine. Click for high resolution version

But the extreme heat in 2013, 2014 and 2015, with each growing season warmer than the last, required growers and makers alike to get much more creative with the vineyards that currently supply their fruit and with the way they handle their raw material when it reaches the winery.

A Brief Recap of the 2013 and 2014 Growing Seasons

Following three years that were cool, downright chilly and moderate, respectively, the heat returned in 2013. The spring was actually cool and long, and the flowering was late, but the second half of July and the month of August were blistering hot. The harvest began in a rush under torrid conditions in early September, with most white varieties, Merlot and some Syrah often brought in with shriveled grapes and overripe flavors. But a sustained cool-down in the second half of September and early October allowed harvesters to take a break and let their fruit hang for better phenolic maturity, without potential alcohol levels going through the roof or natural acidity levels dropping precipitously.

Two thousand fourteen was then a consistently hot growing season virtually from start to finish, breaking records for total heat accumulation in most growing areas in eastern Washington. Some growers pointed out that the vines were acclimated to the heat early on, and that there were fewer extreme heat spikes than in 2013, but others noted that sustained periods with temperatures in the low 90s, during which the vines continue to work and don’t quite reach the shut-down point, were more likely to result in overripe flavors, not to mention higher pHs. And, in general, there was more heat after veraison in 2014 than there had been the previous year.

The Record-Shattering 2015 Vintage

Washington went from the frying pan of 2014 to the fire in 2015, although most growers maintain that it was a healthy burn. The warmth arrived freakishly early, with Growing Degree Days (a measure of total heat accumulation based on the amount by which each day’s average temperature exceeds 50 degrees Fahrenheit) beginning in February. Bud break, flowering and harvest were all two to three weeks ahead of normal. Most growers had their earliest harvest starts ever, beginning in mid-August, and many finished by the end of September, which is also extremely rare in eastern Washington, where the harvest in cool years can stretch into November. There were long periods during the summer with temperatures in the mid to upper 90s in the warmer sites, and more 100+ days than in any previous year. As the vines tend to shut down when afternoon temperatures exceed 95 degrees, the stultifying heat actually extended the growing season a bit, and moderating temperatures in late August and September made the harvest less of a mad rush. One of the keys to the concentration, deep colors and style of the 2015 reds was the small size of the grapes, with the brutal heat of July particularly instrumental in suppressing berry size.

Charles Smith's new high-tech cellar north of Boeing Field in Seattle

Charles Smith's new high-tech cellar north of Boeing Field in Seattle

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The recent string of extra-hot years has forced Washington State’s growers and winemakers to respond proactively to extreme conditions. But the most successful players have been able to harvest strong raw materials and produce seriously rich, balanced wines.

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