New Vines: New Wines
Wine Year In Making: 2008
It's been a very interesting wine season in Ontario. On the heals of what undoubtedly was the best year in Ontario ever, 2007, 2008 has had its problems. What kind of problems? In a nutshell, rain!
Vine roots go deep and in order for the crop to be good, the vines must work hard. I don't know what the symantics are other than that this is so. Rain is not as important as people think though I am not talking here of drought conditions which aren't great for anything but long dry periods such as those exhibited in 2007 make for excellent, disease free crops with magnificent concentration. 2007 was perfect in every way: just enough rain, dry weather, warm days and cool nights. The reds are magnificent (and long aging) while the whites are superb.
2008 has not been so lucky! Though many have said that the year was a good one, rain brings with it the scourge of disease, moulds and fungus. It takes much more work to keep the vines healthy. In addition, the rain has with it---clouds which keep temperatures to a minimum. It just was not summer this year and on top of all the rain, some vineyards had hail which is a merciless killer and indiscriminate----affecting one vineyard while sparing the one next to it!
The One Silver Lining
There is one silver lining however. The last two weeks have been mild and dry with the projected outlook of warmer and dryer weather as the weeks go by. If this is so, then the vintage will become one that is a miracle vintage such as that of 1978 Bordeaux when rain was the scourge but wonderful dry weather at harvest saved the day----and the vintage!
It is far better to have this type of scenario than the opposite where rain (lots of it) follows a drought summer. The reason for this is obvious. Dry vines with clusters of small grapes will act as a sponge resulting in very large grapes that are "watered down". The grape concentration is diluted and the result is wines of little concentration. Let's keep our hopes high that the rain stays away and warm dry periods are ahead of the harvest.
It's been a very interesting wine season in Ontario. On the heals of what undoubtedly was the best year in Ontario ever, 2007, 2008 has had its problems. What kind of problems? In a nutshell, rain!
Vine roots go deep and in order for the crop to be good, the vines must work hard. I don't know what the symantics are other than that this is so. Rain is not as important as people think though I am not talking here of drought conditions which aren't great for anything but long dry periods such as those exhibited in 2007 make for excellent, disease free crops with magnificent concentration. 2007 was perfect in every way: just enough rain, dry weather, warm days and cool nights. The reds are magnificent (and long aging) while the whites are superb.
2008 has not been so lucky! Though many have said that the year was a good one, rain brings with it the scourge of disease, moulds and fungus. It takes much more work to keep the vines healthy. In addition, the rain has with it---clouds which keep temperatures to a minimum. It just was not summer this year and on top of all the rain, some vineyards had hail which is a merciless killer and indiscriminate----affecting one vineyard while sparing the one next to it!
The One Silver Lining
There is one silver lining however. The last two weeks have been mild and dry with the projected outlook of warmer and dryer weather as the weeks go by. If this is so, then the vintage will become one that is a miracle vintage such as that of 1978 Bordeaux when rain was the scourge but wonderful dry weather at harvest saved the day----and the vintage!
It is far better to have this type of scenario than the opposite where rain (lots of it) follows a drought summer. The reason for this is obvious. Dry vines with clusters of small grapes will act as a sponge resulting in very large grapes that are "watered down". The grape concentration is diluted and the result is wines of little concentration. Let's keep our hopes high that the rain stays away and warm dry periods are ahead of the harvest.
posted by Chuck Byers - Wine Consultant | 5:42 AM
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