2004 Napa Valley Vintage

Everything in 2004 happened ahead of the calendar. Hugh Davies of Schramsberg Vineyards gave the Napa Valley Vintners the cleanest summary of it: "Spring was early, bud-break was early, flowering was early, and now winter is early too." The Napa Valley Vintners chart puts bud break markers for all four tracked varieties in March, the earliest of the years it charted in this run. The vintage carried the imprint of that early spring straight through. Rain front-loaded hard and then stopped: 4.23 inches in January and 11.11 in February on the chart, then 1.25 in March and 0.52 in April, with nothing recorded from May through September. Summer itself was warm and consistent, bracketed by the early bud break at one end and several late-summer hot spells at the other. September did the real work on the fruit. September was incredibly warm and dry, which caused shriveling or concentration in many vineyards depending on how you wanted to describe it. Harvest came in fast and ahead of schedule. Picking began about two weeks ahead of schedule and progressed fairly normally until the warm weather trend raised the sugar levels in the fruit and the pace of harvest along with it. At Signorello Vineyards, measured against the year before, 2004 ran three weeks earlier. The chart's harvest bands start earlier and run shorter across all four varieties than in 2001 through 2003.

• Bud break, flowering and harvest all ran early
• Rain front-loaded into January and February, with 1.25 inches in March, 0.52 in April and nothing recorded May through September
• Warm, consistent summer weather was punctuated by several late-summer hot spells
• September was incredibly warm and dry and caused berry shrivel in many vineyards
• Harvest began roughly two weeks ahead of schedule and then accelerated as sugars rose
• Picking at Signorello Vineyards ran three weeks earlier than the previous year

The September heat cost volume and bought concentration. Napa crop size ran 20 to 50 percent below normal by many reports, and Joseph Phelps Vineyards held to about two tons per acre for most varieties as a result of the September shrivel. Some varieties showed a lower yield than expected. Pierre Birebent was blunt about the trade: "the crop is small -- small but extremely high on the quality side." Joel Aiken of Beaulieu Vineyard tied the two together directly, saying 2004 brought grape clusters with small berries and ripe flavors that resulted in wines with concentration and power.

• Napa crop size ran 20 to 50 percent below normal
• Joseph Phelps Vineyards held to roughly two tons per acre for most varieties after September shrivel
• Some varieties yielded lower than expected
• Joel Aiken of Beaulieu Vineyard said small berries and ripe flavors produced concentration and power in the reds

These are assessments made at harvest in autumn 2004, not later verdicts on how the wines aged. Laurie Hook of Beringer said quality seemed very high across the board, with great color and tannin extraction in the reds. Tim Bell of Freemark Abbey reached for a recent comparison: "It reminds me of our 1999's: wines with beautiful fruit and long-term aging potential." Wine Spectator graded the Napa and Sonoma 2004 vintage A minus, reported that Napa vintners found the young reds intense, deep colored and very concentrated, and quoted Craig Williams rating the vintage favorably against 2002 and a notch better than 2003.

• Laurie Hook of Beringer found very high quality across the board with great color and tannin extraction
• Tim Bell of Freemark Abbey compared the wines to the 1999s for fruit and long-term aging potential
• Wine Spectator graded Napa and Sonoma 2004 at A minus
• Craig Williams of Joseph Phelps rated the reds favorably against 2002 and a notch better than 2003