2012 Napa Valley Vintage

After two years of rain, shatter and scrambling, 2012 gave Napa a season with almost nothing to fight. NVV recorded near-ideal spring bud break, steady flowering and even fruit set, and used the word textbook for the conditions. Wine Spectator recorded the same thing more briefly: a mild spring led to a good fruit set. Summer held the pattern. NVV described a lengthy stretch of warm days and cool, often foggy nights, with no heat waves to disrupt it. Craig Camp, writing from Cornerstone Cellars at the end of September, put a thermometer on the description: warm sunny day after warm sunny day, rarely hitting 100 degrees for the high and just as rarely failing to reach at least 85, with nights dropping down into the low 50s. That is the diurnal rhythm Napa growers describe when they describe an ideal year. The last weekend of September brought temperatures spiking into the 90s, which was useful rather than damaging, pushing Cabernet Sauvignon toward full ripeness just ahead of the main red harvest push. Rain stayed out of the way entirely. NVV noted that the late and light rains held off until the grapes had already reached optimal ripeness, which is the sentence every Napa grower wants written about their year.

• Near-ideal spring bud break, steady flowering and even fruit set, described by NVV as textbook conditions
• A long summer stretch of warm days and cool, often foggy nights with no heat waves
• Craig Camp recorded highs rarely at 100 degrees and rarely below 85, with nights in the low 50s
• Temperatures into the 90s over the last weekend of September pushed Cabernet toward full ripeness
• Late and light rains arrived only after the grapes had reached optimal ripeness

Craig Camp's running account from Cornerstone Cellars gives the clearest picture of how the picking ran. Stepping Stone Pinot Gris came in on September 11 and Sauvignon Blanc followed on September 13, from Talcott Vineyard in St. Helena and a new Ink Grade block on Howell Mountain. The red harvest opened the following week with Merlot from Oakville Station and To Kalon and from Ink Grade on Howell Mountain. As of September 30, Cornerstone's schedule for the week ahead read like the season in miniature: Oakville Station and To Kalon Cabernet Franc and Block 2 Merlot on October 1, lower-block Ink Grade Cabernet Sauvignon on October 3, Ink Grade Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon and Stewart Ranch Carneros Merlot on October 4, and Losey Vineyard Riesling and Atlas Peak Syrah on October 5. Nothing about that sequence was rushed, and nothing was waiting on weather.

• Cornerstone Cellars picked Stepping Stone Pinot Gris on September 11 and Sauvignon Blanc on September 13
• Red harvest opened the following week with Merlot from Oakville Station and To Kalon and from Ink Grade on Howell Mountain
• Cabernet Franc from Oakville Station and To Kalon was scheduled for October 1
• Ink Grade Cabernet Sauvignon ran October 3 and 4, alongside Stewart Ranch Carneros Merlot
• Losey Vineyard Riesling and Atlas Peak Syrah were scheduled for October 5

The other half of the 2012 story is volume, and it needs context to read properly. NVV notes that Napa Valley vineyards are farmed at an average of about 4 tons per acre at crush, consistently around half the California statewide average, a deliberate low-yield choice made in service of quality. Against that baseline, 2012 came in as much as 30 percent higher than the smaller crops of the prior two years while landing on par with a near-normal quantity for the region. In other words, the year was not a record in Napa's own terms so much as a return to what normal looks like after two short ones. It still caught people out. Celia Welch of Corra told Wine Spectator that the vintage's main challenge was logistical, finding space for a crop whose size fooled even veteran growers who had expected less given how balanced the vines appeared.

• Napa farms at roughly 4 tons per acre at crush, about half the California statewide average, by design
• The 2012 crop ran as much as 30 percent above the small 2010 and 2011 harvests
• Overall volume was on par with a near-normal quantity for Napa rather than a record
• Celia Welch of Corra described the main challenge as logistical, finding space for a crop that surprised veteran growers

The enthusiasm in the 2012 reports is unusual even by harvest-report standards. Chris Howell, winemaker and general manager at Cain Vineyard and Winery, told NVV that in his memory the depth of color, the beautiful aromatics and the satisfyingly complete palate were unmatched, and that the 2012 harvest would certainly be remembered as one of the very best ever for Napa Valley. Cathy Corison of Corison Winery reached for a comparison, saying 2012 reminded her of 2005, one of her two favorite vintages of the decade, for its very smooth, even ripening season. Chuck Wagner of Caymus, celebrating his 40th harvest in Rutherford, told Wine Spectator that 2012 would be a new high-water mark for Napa and California and estimated that many vintners had made their best wines ever. Janet Myers, winemaker at Franciscan Estate, described the young wines directly: Sauvignon Blanc showing bright lime and grapefruit, Chardonnay going through malolactic fermentation with ripe Fuji apple and Bartlett pear character, and the Bordeaux-style reds showing deep color with dark cherry and cassis. These are all first impressions recorded during and just after harvest, not later assessments.

• Chris Howell of Cain called the depth of color, aromatics and palate unmatched in his memory
• Cathy Corison compared 2012 to 2005 for its very smooth, even ripening season
• Chuck Wagner of Caymus, in his 40th harvest, predicted a new high-water mark for Napa and California
• Franciscan Estate's Janet Myers reported bright lime and grapefruit in the Sauvignon Blanc and deep color with dark cherry and cassis in the Bordeaux-style reds
• All of these are harvest-time impressions rather than assessments of the finished wines