On the presumed eve of harvest (that is, were it a growing season that largely conformed to our 21 years of viticulture), I would typically find myself tentatively extrapolating notions about the vintage’s prospects from the patterns noted since bud break. As noted, though, this summer has been hard to place within a familiar template.
Lingering cool weather patterns are endemic to our zone, and Baker Lane in particular (to wit, we even found ourselves barely finishing harvesting from our Estate site one year on November 7th). As I sit here in late August, it’s still too early to predict if we’ll again have such a delayed harvest. That said, it’s not just an anecdotal impression that this year has been a cool one. The frigid atmospherics that have overwhelmingly prevailed are confirmed by official data—i.e., that the 2025 growing season so far is already the coolest summer in 150+ years of record-keeping.
With cold temps and foggy skies dominating from the beginning of the campaign, every facet of our winegrowing efforts has been affected. The large fruit set that presented early on has been whittled downward due to unfavorable bloom conditions and widespread irregular cluster development (lots of ‘hens and chicks’). The foggy, cool mornings and frigid late afternoon temps also helped foster the heaviest mildew pressure that we’ve ever seen on our farm. Lots of healthy and beautiful (especially as veraison has finally gained speed) clusters still can be found throughout the site, but short of the appearance of a protracted period of torrid temperatures, further crop adjustments are looming.
By definition, an indispensable tool for farmers is the power of observation (and by extension, pattern recognition). With unrelentingly cool weather for days at a time (particularly noticeable with nighttime lows), I found myself also worrying about the prospects for other fruit crops (on our farm and in the county overall). To my surprise, the quality of this summer’s various fruit harvests has been outstanding. Stone fruit has often seemed to be a canary-in-the-coal-mine type marker, and hence the superb character of plum and peach harvests, along with cherry, berries, and figs, is, I hope, a prominent sign of good things to come (and so far, the olives look excellent too). All of these crops have had a long and delicious presence in the market.
What this ultimately suggests to me is that while our grape prospects remain encouraging, a later and more protracted harvest appears likely.
