2021 Harvest Report: Notes from an Early, Hot Washington Vintage

September 1st. Day one of crush 2021. As I write this, the first grapes from two of our Eastern Washington vineyards are being picked.

This is early. We have crushed in August before (2015 holds that record), so it is not the earliest start I have ever had, but it is well ahead of the usual September 9 to 11 window I would typically guess for first pick. The early start has been telegraphed all year. Eastern Washington got a mega-heat spell back in June, and once that happened, everyone in the industry knew the grapes would come in fast.

A lot of people have asked how that early-June heat affected the fruit. The honest answer is: not as much as you would think.

Early Heat Beats Late Heat

An early heat spell is much better than a late one. Triple-digit temperatures in June arrive when the berries are tiny and the canopy is mostly still developing. The vines can shed some water, take the hit, and keep moving. The same temperatures in August or September are a different story. Late heat causes acidity to crash, sunburns the fruit, and can shut the vines down completely.

Still, 2021 had sustained heat all summer. Triple-digit days were not unusual, and the cumulative effect shows up in the fruit.

What the Vineyards Looked Like

Last week I walked eight different vineyards, some on cooler sites, some warmer, and pulled samples while I was at it. Mandy ran analysis on every sample once it came back to the winery.

Overall the picture was good:

• Minimal sunburn across the board
• Smaller-than-average berry size
• Medium to small crop size
• Good flavor development
• Below-average acidity on the warmer sites

Smaller berries are the headline. When the berries are smaller, the ratio of skin to juice goes up, and that gives you more color and more concentrated flavor in the finished wine. Lower yields combined with smaller berries usually translate into intensity. The flip side is the acidity question, which we will be watching through fermentation.

The Smoke Question

The other concern, which has become a yearly anxiety in Washington, is smoke. There has been some smoke hanging around through August, but it has not been at high levels in most of our vineyard sources. I feel reasonably good that we will not have a smoke taint problem this vintage, but we still have a couple of months of fire season ahead, so I am not declaring victory yet.

We test every load that comes in and every fermenter that goes through. If a lot shows a problem, we deal with it before it gets blended into anything we care about.

Day One

Tomorrow morning the crush crew comes in. I have a bottle of sparkling wine chilling for the annual blessing of the grapes before the first cluster drops into the crusher-stemmer.

Tomorrow it is Syrah, Tempranillo, and Merlot, a total of about 12 tons. Then back to the vineyard for more samples and planning for the next round.

It is always the highest-energy stretch of the year. Wish us luck. I'll keep you posted.

Looking Back at 2021

Now that the 2021 reds have spent meaningful time in barrel and several have made it to bottle, the picture is what we expected. The wines are concentrated, with intense color and rich fruit, which is exactly what those small berries promised. Tannin structure is firm. The wines that have come from the cooler sites carry better acidity, and those are the ones I am most excited about for the long haul. Several 2021 vintage wines are still available, including the current release Solesce and Byzance. They drink well now and they will drink even better in five years.

Brian Carter, Winemaker