Challenges And Rewards of Vintage 2021

By: Allen R. Balik

The 2021 vintage is wrapping up in the widely diversified growing areas of the Northern Hemisphere. And while each grower, vintner and winemaker may have their own story, it generally seems quality is high and yields are low across the board.

Excessive rainfall and mudslides in Italy along with floods in Germany pose a contrast to the severe drought conditions in our North Coast. Devastating spring frosts blanketed much of France’s most prestigious appellations (e.g. Champagne, Burgundy and Bordeaux) just as summer heat spells set staggering records across California.

The October 14 San Francisco Chronicle featured a front page article on California’s drought and punishing heat. Danielle Echeverria and Yoohyun Jung stated that, “…the summer months this year were the state’s driest on record since 1895 [when recordkeeping began]…with rainfall in the Bay Area about one-third of normal.”

I’m sure vignerons across the globe, when considering their individual 2021 challenges regardless of location, would agree with Kathleen Wilcox who said in her October 14 Wine-Searcher on-line post, “Mother nature giveth and taketh away.”

Wilcox cited some all-to-familiar statistics: “Almost all of the winegrowing areas of France have been affected; on average, harvests are supposed to be down 29 percent this year…In Champagne that number is even higher [averaging 36 percent…with some reported losses of 90 percent] which could cost the country’s producers almost $2 billion in lost sales. In Marlborough [producing 75 percent of New Zealand’s wine] yields were off by one-third. In Napa yields are 25 to 40 percent below average…”

This is just a brief overview of what has happened this year. Since these conditions are not limited to Napa alone, I solicited comments from vintner and winemaker friends here and abroad to share their experiences with you. While each has an individual story, all were disappointed with yields but optimistic about quality and hopeful for the future.

Our journey will take us from north to south in California and across the “pond” to Europe. Along the way, we must keep in mind that while many of the conditions are similar, the effects may differ somewhat based on the degree of adverse circumstances and a grower’s adaptation in the use of appropriately focused farming practices.

The coastal areas of Sonoma to the north and the Central Coast in the south, seemed to have been spared some of the season’s heat and consequent drought conditions when compared to much of Napa Valley and Sonoma’s inland areas.

Andy Smith, Winemaker/Co-owner of DuMOL in Windsor, observed: “Heat in late August compacted the harvest while historically dry-farmed sites remained successful despite lack of rain and groundwater due to their adaptive nature of the vine to the soil. This was an excellent year for whole cluster fermentation in Pinot Noir as acidity was high and grape skins were mature and healthy with small berry size and good concentration.”

Moving inland, Senior Winemaker at Chalk Hill Winery and Roth Estate, Michael Beaulac says, “We found the growing season very dry with the shoots in all vineyards slightly shorter than one would normally expect and berries much smaller. We anticipated harvest to progress earlier than it did, then everything seemed ready at the same time, putting stress on the winery team. Yields are lighter but flavors are excellent.”

Shifting to Calistoga, Tom Eddy – Owner and Winemaker at Tom Eddy Winery – specializes in hillside grown Cabernet Sauvignon. He summed up the vintage with a few well selected words: “Early, light yields and excellent quality.” Across the Valley, Tom observed, “The early blooming varieties were ‘hammered’ (20 to 50 percent lower) while the later-ripening varieties could be off by 10 to 30 percent…However, dry conditions and drought may cause long term impacts on vine development due to inadequate soil moisture.” He concluded, “Given the challenges of 2021, I’m pleased (quality) and lucky (no smoke) at the same time.”

Pam Starr is Owner and Founding Winemaker of Crocker & Starr in St. Helena. Pam sees 2021 as, “Another unique vintage in my nearly four decades in this fabulous agricultural business. Though our crop yield was 25 to 30 percent lower than average, the quality is UNBELIEVABLE! I, personally, will be buying as many 2021 reds as I can fit in my cellar!!!” Seeing the bright side has always been one of Pam’s strongest qualities.

Staying in St. Helena, Luc Morlet partners with his wife Jodi at Morlet Family Wines where he also fills the role as winemaker. In addition to Estate vineyards in St. Helena and Calistoga, Luc sources fruit across Napa and Sonoma. “With smaller-than-average yields, 2021 is an excellent vintage with amazing quality across all Bordeaux and Burgundian varieties. Early-ripening sites compare to the superb and age-worthy 2015 vintage. Yet, the warm days of October, without heat spikes, brought even-keeled ripening of the tannins, showcasing great softness and reminiscent of 2016.” (Two of the North Coast’s premier vintages of the teens.)

Moving a little south to the Oak Knoll area we find third generation winegrower and owner Bob Biale of Robert Biale Vineyards. Biale’s specialty is heritage varieties of Zinfandel, Petite Sirah and old-vine field blends. Bob thinks, “In general, most vineyards, both irrigated and dry-farmed performed quite well under difficult conditions. Both versions had visibly smaller berries and clusters and both ripened a bit faster near the end of the cycle. Petite Sirah with a thicker skin appeared to fare better that the thinner skinned Zinfandel but with healthy vineyard soils, we expect very good results.”

Jo Ann Truchard is Co-founder and Co-proprietor of Truchard Vineyards in the heart of Southern Napa’s Carneros region. She and her husband Tony founded Truchard in 1973 and were the first Carneros growers to install drip irrigation in 1974. When purchasing the property, they were informed there was no groundwater so they dug a reservoir in the clay soil for collection of rainwater. They now have eight reservoirs on their 412 acre property that are almost empty. Jo Ann sees 2021 as a good news/bad news scenario. “Very intense wines but drought-induced yields were down to almost 50 percent of average.”

Leaving Napa and heading south to the Central Coast we find Pisoni Estate in the Santa Lucia Highlands above the Salinas Valley. Mark Pisoni, a third generation “farmer,” is responsible for the health of their three coveted vineyards (Pisoni, Garys’ and Soberanes) across the SLH region. “After a challenging 2020, we are very excited about a fantastic 2021 despite only half the average rainfall. Yields finished about average and the early wines show great color and structure. Much to look forward to.”

Paso Robles’ second consecutive dry winter was not the only challenge for Tablas Creeks’ 2nd Generation Co-Proprietor Jason Haas. They also faced severe cold spells with 43 frost nights compared with an average of 25. “Several of these events occurred just before bud-break resulting in smaller berries and lighter clusters.” Despite a severe drop in crop size, Jason said, “In the end, harvest was picture-perfect – an absolutely lovely experience with no smoke or excess heat. 2021 will be a vintage to remember!”

I spoke with Frank Ostini, CEO of the legendary Hitching Post 2 Restaurant in Buelton, Santa Barbara County and partners with Gray Hartley in Hitching Post Wines. Weather was moderate in the South Central Coast leading to, “A relatively cool harvest with an extended favorable ripening season that seems to be the best in 20 years…Truly a winemaker’s harvest [and] intuition tells me the resulting wines will be similar to 2001, long considered a winemaker's dream harvest of high quality here in Santa Barbara.”

Finishing up in California, let’s now take a brief look at a couple areas in Europe where climatic conditions also posed growing and winemaking challenges. We can begin this leg of the journey in Italy’s treasured Brunello di Montalcino DOCG, where Sangiovese reigns supreme.

Col d’Orcia, under the ownership of the Cinzano family, is one of Montalcino’s most revered estates. The affable Nicola Giannetti directs the estate’s communications and shared his thoughts about 2021: “Unfortunately, the night of 8 April resulted in a late freeze that damaged low-lying Sangiovese vineyards…Fortunately, the higher-quality Sangiovese, lying at elevations of over 300 metres, escaped unscathed. A cool June had a positive impact, but summer was hot. Small clusters and concentrated berries will lead to exceptional-quality.”

Corpinnat is an emerging new category of Méthode Traditionelle sparkling wine in Spain’s Penedès region. Recaredo with other small producers who’ve broken ties with the Cava DO, spearheads the effort. Corpinnat (translated to “the heart of Penedès”) producers have agreed to a series of strict controls (e.g. only estate grown fruit, 100 percent organic, hand-picked, 90 percent Mediterranean varieties, minimum 18 months on the lees, etc.) to ensure the utmost quality of their wines.

Ton Mata is the CEO of Recaredo and presented several insights. “Our yields in 2020 were very low due to mildew and we’ve seen similar low yields in 2021 because of dry weather. But this year’s harvest has been wonderful in terms of quality. Low pH and good acidity resulted in a favorable ‘tension’ in our base wines. This will lead to great aging potential – especially for our indigenous Xarel·lo grapes.”

Everyone can agree that winegrowing is farming and that by its very definition is subject to the vagaries of Mother Nature. Rain is good because the vine needs water, but not too much. Warm days and cool nights are good to enhance maturity and preserve natural acidity, but again not too much.

However, what we’ve seen this year across the globe in the face of climate change demonstrates a broad disparity between balance and excess. Thankfully, quality is the watchword even though quantity will limit availability.