2001 Napa Valley Vintage
A tumultuous season with a severe frost and swinging hot and cool stretches, saved by a cooler September and picked in near-ideal conditions.
Wine Spectator's Daniel Sogg, reporting from Napa in late October 2001, described a tumultuous growing season that included a severe frost and intermittent hot and cool stretches, but wrote that patient winemakers were able to harvest in nearly ideal conditions. Heat spells dehydrated fruit and pushed sugar readings up, which may have tempted some wineries to pick too early, before cooler September weather allowed greater flavor development. Yields within vineyards ran from average to about 25 percent short. The comparison winemakers reached for at the time was 1997, and several made that comparison on the record.
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Open the appGrowing season
Bud break for Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon runs across March and April, with bloom clustered in May. What came after was not smooth. The growing season was tumultuous, with a severe frost and intermittent hot and cool stretches. No calendar date for the frost appears in the reporting. Rain effectively stopped once the season got going. January brought 6.46 inches and February 8.84, then 3.23 in March, 1.06 in April, 0.03 in May and 0.05 in June, with nothing meaningful through the summer and only 0.86 inches in October. Summer brought heat spells that dehydrated grapes and pushed sugar measurements up, and this might have encouraged some wineries to pick too soon. Cooler conditions in September followed and allowed greater flavor development, which is the turn most winemakers pointed to. Harvest opens in early to mid September for Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay and mid September for Merlot, with Cabernet Sauvignon carrying the longest band of the four, well past the others into October and November. Bob Foley of Pride Mountain Vineyards on Spring Mountain began and finished harvest on identical days to 1997. Yields within vineyards ran from average to about 25 percent short.
- A severe frost and intermittent hot and cool stretches defined the season
- Heat spells raised sugar readings by dehydrating fruit, creating a temptation to pick early
- September turned cooler and allowed greater flavor development
- Growing-season rain was close to nil: 1.06 inches in April, 0.03 in May, 0.05 in June
- Cabernet Sauvignon carried the longest harvest band on the chart, running into October and November
- Yields within vineyards ranged from average to about 25 percent short
- The 2001 growing season included a severe frost and intermittent hot and cool stretches, yet Wine Spectator described patient winemakers as harvesting in nearly ideal conditions
- Heat spells dehydrated grapes and raised sugar measurements, which might have encouraged some wineries to pick too soon
- Cooler conditions in September allowed greater flavor development after the summer heat
- Yields within vineyards ranged from average to about 25 percent short
- Growing-season rain was almost nil: 1.06 inches in April, 0.03 in May and 0.05 in June, after a wet January and February of 6.46 and 8.84 inches
- Bob Foley of Pride Mountain Vineyards began and finished harvest that year on identical days to 1997
- Elias Fernandez of Shafer Vineyards in the Stags Leap District said flatly that this is 1997 again, describing the wines as ripe and voluptuous
Winemaker impressions at harvest
These are contemporaneous impressions recorded in October 2001, not verdicts on how the wines aged. The reference point everyone reached for was 1997. Elias Fernandez of Shafer Vineyards in the Stags Leap District said this is 1997 again and described the wines as ripe and voluptuous. Bob Foley at Pride Mountain Vineyards, who matched his 1997 harvest dates to the day, called what he was seeing the best wines the ranch had produced. Winemakers at the time anticipated a full-throttle style of Napa Cabernet, with ample ripe tannins, plenty of alcohol and concentrated flavors, and unusually dark color. Charles Thomas, winemaker at Cardinale in Oakville, put the mood more carefully: at this point, one has to be cautiously exuberant.
- Elias Fernandez of Shafer Vineyards said this is 1997 again and called the wines ripe and voluptuous
- Bob Foley of Pride Mountain Vineyards called the wines the best the ranch had produced
- Winemakers expected a full-throttle Cabernet style with ample ripe tannins, high alcohol, concentrated flavors and unusually dark color
- Charles Thomas of Cardinale in Oakville described the mood as cautiously exuberant
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See the Pivot+- 2001 in Napa was a tumultuous season that included a severe frost and alternating hot and cool stretches, but Wine Spectator described patient growers as harvesting in nearly ideal conditions.
- Summer heat spells dehydrated fruit and inflated sugar readings, creating a risk of picking before flavors caught up; cooler September weather allowed greater flavor development.
- Growing-season rainfall was effectively nil: 1.06 inches in April, 0.03 in May and 0.05 in June.
- Yields within vineyards ran from average to roughly 25 percent short.
- The contemporaneous comparison was 1997: Elias Fernandez of Shafer called it 1997 again, and Bob Foley of Pride Mountain began and finished harvest on the same days as 1997.
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