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HARVEST REPORT Heights Vineyard outside Salem. "Normally it's between the 10th and the 15th of June." Harvest started as much as a month late for many producers – in mid-October – and continued into November for the first time for even some long- established names. Lange at Lange Estate Winery in Dundee noted, "We were really diligent about early-season sprays – before bunch closure – to make sure we took care of anything along the stems. If you didn't, your fate was literally sealed." Most growers took a very will be good. Plus, the whites are awesome. I think we'll be making some really nice (pinot) gris." IDAHO By Gary Werner Paralleling the rest of the Pacific Northwest, Idaho's season unfold- ed later in 2011 than is typical. "We ran three weeks behind our longer-term average because of the spring," said Meredith Smith at Sawtooth Winery near Caldwell. Bill Fraser at nearby Fraser Vineyard explained, "It was cool and wet – just a very slow start." While overall heat accumula- Earl Jones (far right) of Abacela in Oregon expected a larger crop in 2011 than 2010. Precipitation in 2011 was a bifurcated experience. The first half of the season was notably wet, then August, September and October were drier than normal. Cumulatively, the Willamette Val- ley experienced 5% less than typi- cal precipitation levels across the growing season; Southern Oregon remained more than 10% wetter than average. "Late-season weather really saved us," said Adam Campbell of Elk Cove Vineyards in Gaston. "If we had seen our normal October weather, we'd all be very disap- pointed." Terry Brandborg of Brand- borg Winery in Elkton agreed. "We kind of dodged a bullet there. With- out the good conditions in Septem- ber and most of October, it could have been a real wash." As much as Oregon's autumn seemed like a miracle, the season's early rains made for a constant bat- tle with disease. "Botrytis definite- ly played a role this year. You had to be very attentive in your farming," said Campbell at Elk Cove. Jesse WWW.VWM-ONLINE.COM aggressive approach to viticulture; so in contrast to Washington, the 2011 crop in Oregon appears to be full-sized. "It looks like we'll be over by 8% to 10%," said Earl Jones of Abacela near Roseburg. "We got a great fruit set, and our cluster weights were higher." Lange also said that yields look very good: "We'll be up significantly (in 2011)." Another reason for good yields was the absence of bird pressure. "The previous harvest (2010) was one of the worst bird years here in a long time," said Casteel. "So there was a big investment in net- ting across the industry. But the flocks of starlings never arrived. We saw hardly anything." The Oregon industry will remem- ber 2011 as a nail-biter. Common descriptors from growers and wine- makers include "stress-inducing" and "nerve-wracking." But the close of the season included posi- tive assessments. "Skins are thick across the board," said Lange, "so colors and tannin levels in the reds tion dropped below average, con- ditions in Idaho appeared notably better than in neighboring Wash- ington state. Smith reported a GDD total of 2,790 at the end of Octo- ber, while Fraser logged 2,959 by Halloween. "We had a really nice fall," said Fraser, "and that bailed us out. September and October were great." He added, "We ended up with slightly lower than normal Brix, but letting things hang so long offered very appealing flavors." The bright spot in the 2011 season, according to Ron Bitner of Bitner Vine- yards in Idaho, was low disease pressure. One positive point of differentia- tion from the rest of the Northwest in 2011 was a lack of disease pres- sure. "I actually sprayed less than is typical," said Ron Bitner of Bitner Vineyards near Caldwell. "I was JAN - FEB 2012 VINEYARD & WINERY MANAGEMENT 49