2013 Napa Valley Vintage

Every account of 2013 starts in the same place: it was early. A warm, dry spring brought early bud break and helped moderate canopy vigor and berry size, two things Napa growers are generally happy to have moderated. Vintner reports collected in August fill in the regional detail. At The Hess Collection on Atlas Peak, a dry winter and a warm spring brought few frost events, with warm weather in May allowing for even bud break and flowering. On Mt. Veeder, the warm spring was a good start to the year, frost was again not impactful, and the bloom period was early and easy. At Schweiger Vineyards on Spring Mountain, bud break and flowering also started early, though a somewhat prolonged bloom followed. At Truchard Vineyards in Carneros, a warm dry spring caused an early bloom, and a few heat spikes through the summer pushed the vines along. Summer itself was dry, warm and consistent, with one heat spike in late June or early July. After that heat spell, subsequent mild and cool temperatures were conducive to photosynthesis. The cooler run had a moderating effect on the calendar. At The Hess Collection, the warm early summer had initially suggested harvest could run up to two weeks earlier than 2012 before unseasonably cooler weather slowed ripening somewhat. At Clos Pegase on Howell Mountain, veraison was almost complete and about two weeks ahead of schedule as of August 20, with many nights staying above 70 degrees against a usual average of 67 to 68.

• Warm, dry spring with early bud break, moderated canopy vigor and berry size
• Flowering ran in May rather than the more typical June across several districts
• Frost was not impactful, with few or no meaningful events on Mt. Veeder and Atlas Peak
• One heat spike in late June or early July, followed by milder, cooler temperatures conducive to photosynthesis
• Cooler weather pulled the season back from a projected two weeks ahead of 2012 toward a more normal pace
• Howell Mountain nights at Clos Pegase often stayed above 70 degrees versus a usual 67 to 68

Pickers moved into the vineyards on August 1, which Wine Spectator called the earliest harvest in recent record. White grapes came in at a furious pace through August, and harvesters had moved on to the early reds by the start of September. Laurie Hook at Beringer Vineyards put dates on the full run, August 9 through October 22, and called it the earliest harvest in more than 25 years. The year had an oddity: Cabernet Franc on Howell Mountain was ready before the earlier-ripening Merlot on the same ranch. Not every site ran as early as the headlines suggested. At Mike Lamborn's Lamborn Family Vineyards, an original prediction of an early-August pick was pushed back by a cooler run of foggy mornings, warm afternoons and cool nights, and the resulting start date was compared to 2007, 2008 and 2004. At Ancien Wines in Coombsville, what had looked like an early harvest settled closer to an average date because of cooler temperatures through much of the ripening season, with Pinot Noir still about three weeks out as of August 20. In the Chiles Valley District, Volker Eisele Family Estate was about two weeks ahead of normal as of August 20, in line with most other Napa appellations. Two mid-September rain events arrived, but by then the vast majority of the more vulnerable thin-skinned grapes had already been picked. Josh Wadaman, winemaker at Lewis, described the whole thing as a largely uneventful, early harvest marked by warm weather and no threat of rain.

• Pickers were in the vineyards August 1, which Wine Spectator called the earliest harvest in recent record
• Beringer ran August 9 to October 22, which Laurie Hook called the earliest in more than 25 years
• Whites came in at a furious pace through August, with early reds starting by the beginning of September
• Cabernet Franc on Howell Mountain was ready ahead of the earlier-ripening Merlot on the same ranch
• Coombsville and Lamborn Family Vineyards both settled closer to an average start date as cooler weather slowed ripening
• Two mid-September rain events landed after most thin-skinned fruit was already harvested

2013 followed the biggest Napa crop in living memory and still came in above average. Yields were above average for the season overall. Opus One in Oakville estimated its yields as greater than its five-year average, though somewhat less than the very large 2012. At Honig Vineyard and Winery in the Chiles Valley District, crop levels were a little bit higher than normal as of August 20. Richard Sowalsky at Clos Pegase noted his crop remained robust following 2012, which he described as off-the-charts huge. Zinfandel was coloring up well at Volker Eisele Family Estate in Chiles Valley on the same date. Clean fruit changed what winemakers could do in the cellar. The clean fruit allowed Jeff Ames, who makes wine at Rudius and Tor, more whole-cluster fermentation on his Syrah, Grenache and Mourvedre-based wines. Wine Spectator described Napa winemakers as unanimous in their enthusiasm for the harvest, calling 2013 a drought year and a worthy, if not superior, successor to 2012. That was the view from harvest time, not a later verdict on the bottled wines.

• Yields ran above average overall despite following the very large 2012 crop
• Opus One estimated a crop above its five-year average but below 2012
• Honig crop levels ran a little higher than normal in the Chiles Valley District
• Clos Pegase on Howell Mountain had a robust crop after an off-the-charts huge 2012
• Clean fruit allowed more whole-cluster fermentation on Syrah, Grenache and Mourvedre at Rudius and Tor
• Wine Spectator reported unanimous harvest-time enthusiasm, calling 2013 a drought year and a worthy successor to 2012