Just a quick note to display my gratitude to the sun god for giving us a great end of August. GDD are catching up with last year and last year saw a disastrous September which so far does not look like a repeat this year. We might have a great vintage on our hands…..

As we are entering the final stretch of the grape growing season, the growers and wineries of Washington State have published their projected harvest numbers. Below are the top key points:

• Total estimated crop is 20% below last year due to a freeze kill this winter – 128K tons vs 160K tons in 2010 – this is the equivalent of 1.8M cases
• Red are more affected than whites – reds down 26%, whites down 8%
• Among reds, major loser is Cabernet Sauvignon (-39%) and all major red varietals are down
• Among whites, major loser is Chardonnay (-17%) and somewhat Riesling (-13%). Pinot Gris is actually projected a good 20% above 2010 due to speculative planting putting pressure on Pinot Gris prices
• Looking at the future, 2012 could be as high as 176K tons, 10% higher than 2010 – so there is no long term shortage

Overall this is a pretty decent projection. We should not see any major shortage except Cabernet Sauvignon. If the weather stays above 90F until mid-September we could actually have a stellar vintage with low crop and mild temperatures -> Perfect!