2006 Vintage Summary.
The 2006 growing season was longer than 2005. There was a heat wave in July that came at the time of veraison for some regions and affected the crops differently depending on AVA (read the complete story). This delayed harvest by anywhere from two to six weeks. In the end, the theme of the 2006 was: "long hang time and generally cool temperatures". The Central Coast was luckier than the North Coast: While harvest in Sonoma and Napa was wet, the central coast remained cool and dry.
Monterey County started out cool and rainy which slowed bud break and growth. The heat spell in July was the second bump in the road. Early ripening varietals like Chardonnay and Pinot Noir came to the crush pads about two weeks earlier. The late ripening varieties like Cabernet and Merlot came in about two weeks earlier than usual. That put some wineries in a crunch. The earlier varietals were not not out of the tanks and it was time to start on the next batch. What this means for wines depends on a winery's line up. If all their stock was in Pinot and Chardonnay, then they did not feel rushed and we may see some great wines. Those that did experience a bottleneck may have rushed the early-ripening varieties and vinified late ripening varieties at greater levels of maturity.
By the accounts of several wine growers and winemakers, the cool climate Santa Maria Valley escaped the 100 degree Fahrenheit point at which shutdown occurs. September and October experienced nighttime cooling which kept potential alcohol down and allowed the grapes to develop complexity. We are anticipating lower alcohol level wines with greater depth and finesse.
In the Sta. Rita Hills AVA, a warm spring led to a very long and cool summer with harvest coming even later than 2005.
The typically warmer growing regions such as the Santa Ynez Valley saw temperature in excess of 110 degrees Fahrenheit. But that was thought to have minimal effect on grape development. Chris Stanton, winemaker at Koehler Winery in the Santa Ynez Valley told us: "We normally have veraison now, and we are a few weeks behind on that. So the heat just spurred it along.”
Bill Wathen, winemaker at Foxen Winery felt the yield and quality in the 2006 vintage would not be affected: "The heat wave was harder on the vineyard workers than it was on the vines, since the workers are doing so much canopy and cluster work this time of year."
Paso Robles, which is also typically a warmer AVA, experienced some development shut down. Tom Maas, owner of Pear Valley Vineyards in western Paso Robles, told us temperatures reached 114 degrees Fahrenheit but he and his vineyard manager did not foresee a yield reduction.
2006 Ardiri Pinot noir, Carneros
2006 Byron Pinot Noir, Santa Maria Valley
2006 Five Rivers Pinot noir, Central Coast
2006 Mandolina Malvasia bianca, Santa Barbara County
2006 Presidio Winery Gewürztraminer, Viento Vineyard, Monterey County
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