The 2002 Vintage
Global Warming and Oregon's Wine Crop
By Harry Pederson-Nedry, Chehalem Winery
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Is 2002 a great Oregon Pinot noir vintage, or just a great press release? All years are not created equal. We innately look for differences to intrigue the intellectually curious, to celebrate a product that is much like art in its ability to reflect diversity and stimulate creativity, to create a high-C against the choral sameness of passing years. Wine regions worldwide are known to pronounce greatness at the drop of a hat, either because of impressionable winemakers caught up in the excitement of a new harvest, or because of over zealous marketers staring at warehouses of new wines—and sometimes because it is a great year. The Bordelais made vintage deification an art form years ago and much of the wine world has followed in their steps, aided by publications that need to make new judgments in order to sell copies. Sometimes they’re right and sometimes they’re just blowing smoke! The assessment of the 2002 vintage of Oregon Pinot noirs doesn’t seem to be overly generalized or overly generous. No caveat emptor needed here, as this is likely the best overall vintage since 1998.
An almost perfect growing and ripening season gave size without losing elegance, gave richness without losing great acid structure. White wines from 2002 may be the best ever, and the weight seen there is continued in Pinot noir. The new releases show robust, friendly fruit, mouthfuls of it. But they’re just babies and will refine themselves as they mature. These wines will age as well as any vintage we’ve seen. Classic. Mother Nature in basic black and pearls. Mother Nature has been good to us. Although 2002 is virtually perfect, we have seen six vintages with good ripening and without the infamous harvest rains, years when either warm summer weather has pushed ripening earlier or summer has extended into Indian Summer territory. I wouldn’t suggest there is possibly (shh!) global climate change at work—we wouldn’t think of disagreeing with our government lest it be seen as a breach of homeland security or as threatening to industries and economies invested in generating greenhouse emissions, like the automotive and oil industries. We, the technologically most advanced country led by scientific wizards, wouldn’t ignore irrefutable data from multiple sources, refuse to sign Kyoto accords, be so arrogant as to think concerns and rules don’t apply to us just because we’re the biggest user and polluter, or just because of politics and the inconvenience it might cause our businesses—we wouldn’t, would we?
Global Climate Change I don’t want this to be a diatribe on climate change, although
I wouldn’t rule it out in a later newsletter, but it needs
to be mentioned as we view vintages of the last decade. If they
are a taste of what can be expected, with half rainfall and 2003’s
almost intolerable heat reflecting only a 1-2º F increase over
the prior two years’ average temperatures, I will be looking
for vineyard land on the flanks of Mt Hood or in a Canadian province.
How We Measure Seasonal Differences Despite the stylistic influences winemakers have over vintage, Mother Nature crafts the most significant changes. Annually, the basic questions are “will we have enough heat and will the rains hold off until after harvest?” All other parameters we monitor just flesh out our view of heat and rain. Parameters such as timings of bud break, flowering, veraison (color change/seed hardening), and harvest record the rhythms of a vintage. Simple measurements of heat accumulation in degree-days and total inches of rainfall during the growing and ripening seasons generalize vintages. Accumulated heat, in Degree Days over 50º F, show the warming trend. In the graph increased heat is apparent in years like 2003, which had the heat of a Region II growing site at 2500 degree-days or approximately 400 degree-days warmer than average, based on the old UC Davis grading system (the same Region II into which Napa, Santa Barbara and Auckland were placed). Vintage 2002 is warmer than average by approximately 150 units also. However, the length of the ripening season is what made 2002 exquisite, with September 15-October 15 max temperatures averaging 71º F and having only a single day each above the 80s or below the 60s.
Rain in this month was a mere 0.76 inches. The next two weeks even
permitted late season ripening, averaging 61º F, with no rain.
This luxury is seen if you view harvest dates in 2002 being spread
over an entire month, with a long 114 days from bloom to harvest.
The 2004 vintage is beginning where 2003 left off, with higher accumulation
than we've seen through early May (see black shaded curve beginning).
The Corral Creek and 3 Vineyard new releases show classic numbers for a great vintage, registering 14% alcohols, 6 g/L acids and 3.6 pHs. A classic, fully ripe but gradually ripened vintage, with no rain at the end, 2002 shows the attributes of a cool climate, giving ripeness, acidity and complexity in an elegant package. Oh, and did I say “classic”?
Projections leave little doubt, even with maximum uncertainty built
into the model, Historical Phenological Data, Based on Ridgecrest Vineyards Growing parameters for the last four vintages at Ridgecrest Vineyards, plus what is typical. Gives a sense of variability, even between very good vintages--all vintages, even great ones, are not alike.
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Our first releases from this vintage are the
blended 3 Vineyard and single vineyard Corral
Creek Vineyard bottlings.
We are very
proud of both wines, as well as the rest of the family waiting
in the wings. They all have great balance, concentration, fruit
range
and complexity. 
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