Vintages

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 said so on the record.

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Growing season

The Napa Valley Vintners vintage chart puts bud break for Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon across March and April, with bloom clustered in May. What came after was not smooth. Wine Spectator's Daniel Sogg, writing in late October 2001, described a tumultuous growing season that included 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. The vintage chart records 6.46 inches in January and 8.84 in February, 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 Sogg noted that 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 on the chart 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 said he 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, per Wine Spectator's October 2001 reporting
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 per the Napa Valley Vintners chart
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

Key Facts

The 2001 growing season included a severe frost and intermittent hot and cool stretches, yet Wine Spectator reported that patient winemakers harvested in nearly ideal conditions
Heat spells dehydrated grapes and raised sugar measurements, which Wine Spectator suggested 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
Napa Valley Vintners' vintage chart records almost no growing-season rain: 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 said he 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

What winemakers said 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 exactly, said 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 reported the best wines 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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Exam Study NotesWSET / CMS

2001 in Napa was a tumultuous season that included a severe frost and alternating hot and cool stretches, but Wine Spectator reported that patient growers harvested 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 on the Napa Valley Vintners chart: 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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