2008 Willamette Valley / Oregon Vintage

Oregon's 2008 growing season started late and stayed late. The Oregon Wine Board reported bud break running on average ten days to two weeks behind schedule, followed by a cool growing season. Decanter's account of the same spring is harsher and covers more ground: a cold, late winter, then the coolest spring weather in a quarter century, with March and April both several degrees below normal. Decanter put the bud break delay at up to four weeks in places, and described flowering as late and fragile. The two figures are not reconciled here; each is reported as its source gave it. Summer was cool too. Anticipating a struggle for ripeness, many growers dramatically reduced yield by dropping bunches so the remaining fruit would gain concentration and flavor, and the Oregon Wine Board reported growers thinning crop again later in the season out of the same concern. Rainfall was not excessive and mildew posed little problem, but as September arrived progress was still three weeks behind schedule. Early September rain was the first real test: alarmed by it, some growers panic-picked their vineyards and brought in under-ripe berries. The more daring held out, and were rewarded with warm, dry October days and chilly nights, which Decanter called the perfect combination for full Pinot Noir ripening. An historic frosty spell arrived October 9 to 12 and had variable impact, since most wineries had picking covered. In southern and eastern Oregon a late season freeze affected some vineyards, though fruit brought in before the freeze showed concentration and mature flavors and protected vineyards were unharmed. Harvest extended through the end of October, with Decanter noting that winemakers could pick when they wanted, typically starting in early October. In the northern part of the state, small berry clusters left to hang through the extended warm October spell reached optimal maturity with full ripeness and intensely concentrated color and flavors. On volume, the sourced figure is qualitative rather than a tonnage comparison: Decanter put overall Pinot Noir yield down 10 to 20 percent on normal, driven largely by the growers' own fruit dropping.

• Cold, late winter and the coolest spring in a quarter century, with March and April several degrees below normal
• Bud break ten days to two weeks behind per the Oregon Wine Board, up to four weeks in places per Decanter
• Flowering was late and fragile; summer stayed cool
• Growers dropped bunches early and thinned again later, anticipating a struggle for ripeness
• Rainfall was not excessive and mildew posed little problem, but September arrived three weeks behind schedule
• Early September rain triggered panic-picking of under-ripe fruit at some estates
• Warm, dry October days with chilly nights rewarded growers who waited; an historic frosty spell October 9 to 12 had variable impact
• Harvest extended through the end of October; Pinot Noir yield was down 10 to 20 percent on normal

The Oregon Wine Board's verdict at the time was that low yields plus fully ripe, high quality fruit gave 2008 the potential to produce extraordinary wines. Decanter's advice on release was to keep the wines, describing fresh, elegant, balanced Pinot Noir with fully developed flavors from those winemakers who reduced yields and harvested latest, and good ageing potential. Its read on the best examples was consistent: fresh, well balanced, elegant, with moderate alcohol and firm structure, and wines that age will improve. The producer-by-producer spread was real, since the growers who panic-picked in early September had a different vintage from those who waited for October.

• Low yields with fully ripe fruit gave the vintage the potential for extraordinary wines, per the Oregon Wine Board
• Decanter advised keeping the wines and described fresh, elegant, balanced Pinot Noir with good ageing potential
• The best wines were characterized as fresh, well balanced and elegant, with moderate alcohol and firm structure
• Outcomes varied sharply between growers who panic-picked in early September and those who waited for the October window

Chain Bridge Cellars, looking back in 2018, reported that 2008 was rated 96 by Wine Spectator and 94 by Wine Advocate, and argued that the critical praise and the fleshy, even weighty character of many of the wines made it a breakthrough vintage for consumer awareness of and demand for Willamette Valley Pinot Noir. The same retrospective was more measured about the wines themselves at ten years old, comparing them to Burgundy 2005, Bordeaux 2000 and Barolo 2006 as slow to open up and not showing as much delineation and complexity as the writer wished, with the caveat that it might simply be too soon. That is one retailer's read, not a consensus, and no formal drinking window for the vintage appears in the sources consulted.

• Chain Bridge Cellars reported scores of 96 from Wine Spectator and 94 from Wine Advocate
• The same retrospective called 2008 a breakthrough vintage for consumer awareness and demand for Willamette Valley Pinot Noir
• At ten years old the wines were described as slow to open, compared to Burgundy 2005, Bordeaux 2000 and Barolo 2006
• No formal drinking window for the vintage appears in the sources consulted