Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/764739
3 8 V I N E YA R D & W I N E RY M A N A G E M E N T | J a n - F e b 2 017 w w w. v w m m e d i a . c o m vineyards in the 'hail zone' reported as low as 1 ton per acre yields," says Rollin Soles of Roco Winery in Newberg. As a result of the poor set, cluster weights were lighter and berry sizes were smaller than nor- mal. "Berry size was down 16% by weight, which caused reduced cluster weights," Peterson-Nedry notes. As a result, there wasn't as much thinning this year in many areas as there might be in an aver- age year. Just when it looked like 2016 was on a record-setting pace for heat accumulation, things cooled down. "The point at which the lines diverged between 2015 and 2016 was sometime in July," Horner says. "It started lagging behind just a little bit and kept that trend all the way until the end, so it was just behind 2014 and 2015." Still, the effect of the early start was felt. "At that point, the snow- ball was rolling and we were on track for one of our earliest har- vests ever for Chardonnay and earlier than normal for Pinot Noir," says Bergström. Harvest started historically early. "In 2016, we harvested fruit in August for the first time, beginning August 30, and for the first time harvested no fruit in October, being picked out by September 30," says Peterson-Nedry. "We brought our last grapes in on September 19 — crazy early!" says Sokol Blosser. A cooler than average Septem- ber led to an orderly harvest. "That really helped stretch things out for us," Horner says. "This was the 'bankers hours' harvest," Sokol Blosser says. "Not many long days, as all the fruit came in lighter than our estimates. It was nice to have a more normal, Oregon-sized harvest." Despite the warm year, many said acid levels held. "I thought I was going to need to add acid, but that wasn't the case," says Horn- er. "It was like a perfectly normal year." "[Our acids] were all over the board," says Bergström. "We had very low pH levels in some vine- yards [3.2 to 3.3] and yet others were very high in pH with levels of 3.5 to 3.8. Overall, malic acid levels were good and tartaric acid levels were high, which, hopefully, will lead to well balanced wines from many sites." Brix levels, on average, were a bit higher, secondary to dehydra- tion. "If you started off and had a marginal bloom yielding tiny ber- ries and were on a droughty soil without irrigation, you had a serious problem," Horner says. "You were looking at maybe 27 to 28 °Brix. But if you were in a similar situa- tion but could irrigate or were on a more fertile soil, like a Jory soil, you could weather that." "Brix levels were on the high side of average but, because of the timing, there was enough labor to get everything off in a timely man- ner," Casteel says. "If you wanted to wait, you had as much time as you could possibly ask for." Notably for Oregon, disease and pest pressure was relatively low in Alex Sokol Blosser, winegrower and winemaker at Sokol Blosser in Dayton, saw an early harvest in 2016. Toll-Free: 877-552-4828 909-464-1373 • Fax: 909-464-1603 www.agfast.com For your nearest dealer, contact: This trellis and fence wire anchor securely holds wires to end- posts. Insert the wire into and through the wirevise. It automatically locks onto the wire. No tools required. To tighten, just pull more wire through the vise. The WireLink® is used to splicet two strands of wire together. Simply in- sert the wire into each end of the Wirelink and you have a splice. Trellis & Fence Wire Anchor WIREVISE® WIRELINK® A release tool is available for both the WireVise® and the WireLink® from AgFast for 12-16 gauge wire. V&WM WireViseAD.qxp_Layout 1 11/29/16 11:38