Washington Wine Report '21 Pt 1
With today’s Fruit Grower Report, I’m Bob Larson. The numbers are in for Washington’s 2021 wine grape harvest and while the yields may have suffered, the quality is apparently through the roof!
Washington State Wine Commission President, Steve Warner says the ’21 crop year weather was definitely a factor …
WARNER … “You know, we got of to a really good start. We were really excited about the ’21 vintage and then, you know, we hit that massive heat dome. First time I’d heard of a heat dome used in a sentence, but we, I think we had in some areas we had up to four days of temperatures approaching 118 degrees.”
So, Warner says from a yield perspective …
WARNER … “That did have an effect, obviously, on berry size. It was, you know, one of the warmest if not the warmest growing seasons that we’ve had on record. I love our farmers. They live this day in and day out and they said it could have been worse, and we’re pretty, I guess overall, glad it wasn’t worse.”
But it was a bit too much? …
WARNER … “You know it did lead to lower yields, but for the quality aspect of it, the quality is just off the chart. I mean, obviously, with those smaller berries, those smaller cluster weights, you know, they tend to add to the quality of the wine in many ways. I have to tell you; I had the opportunity to taste a couple of ‘21’s the other day and they were fantastic.”
Cabernet Sauvignon has been Washington’s most produced variety since 2015, and this year came in at 28% of the total crop.
Tune in tomorrow for more on the ’21 wine grape harvest and the quality Warner says is impressive.
