2017 Sonoma Vintage

In the Sonoma Valley AVA, continued winter rains and a mild spring created some ideal growing conditions early. At Iron Horse Vineyards, near record winter rain followed by late spring rain gave the vines too much growth, and the team did much more leaf pulling and canopy hedging than normal. Then summer turned hot. At Taylor Family Vineyard, early heat waves in July were followed by cooling fog and a late August heatwave. August delivered some of the longest, hottest periods seen in years, and in some AVAs sugars rose faster than the grapes were maturing, so some growers increased irrigation to protect leaves and fruit from sun damage. Early September brought a much needed cool down, but the Labor Day heat spike pushed 105 degrees F for three consecutive days in Sonoma and Napa counties. Harvest took off like a sprint. The sparkling wine harvest was mostly complete, Cabernet Sauvignon was expected to begin in earnest in mid-September, and most growers expected to finish in mid-October. On yields, early September reads ran from near normal or slightly below normal in the Russian River Valley to average in Alexander Valley and Sonoma Valley, and by November lower yields were expected across the board on the North Coast.

• Winter and spring: in Sonoma Valley, continued winter rains and a mild spring; at Iron Horse, near record winter rain and late spring rain drove heavy vine growth
• Summer: July heat waves, cooling fog, then a late August heatwave; August brought some of the longest, hottest periods in years
• Labor Day heat spike: pushing 105 degrees F for three consecutive days in Sonoma and Napa counties
• Harvest: sparkling wine harvest mostly complete; most growers expected to finish in mid-October

Wildfires hit Napa and Sonoma counties in October. David Ramey of Ramey Cellars said, "We picked our last grapes the night the fires broke out, October 8-Hyde merlot," and that fruit waited a day because Highway 101 was closed on Monday the 9th. Lisa Perrotti-Brown of Robert Parker Wine Advocate wrote that some wineries in most of the Sonoma Coast and much of the Russian River Valley had thus far had little or no impact from the fires. Andy Smith of DuMOL said the Russian River Valley and Sonoma Coast had escaped any real problems short of some lightly smoky skies, and DuMOL's final pick came three days before the fires began. Ted Lemon of Littorai summed up his Sonoma Coast fruit as "Completely unaffected. All in tank well before the fires." Siduri had just harvested the last of its 2017 fruit when the fires started; the winery survived amid devastation in the surrounding neighborhoods and went a couple of days without power. Paul Hobbs, whose winery makes wine from both Sonoma and Napa vineyards, had about 78 percent of the harvest complete before the fires, including all Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, and every remaining unharvested vineyard had incurred some level of smoke, with Alexander Valley samples showing the least. Chateau St. Jean sustained only minor damage to an out-building.

• The fires broke out the night of October 8
• Some wineries in most of the Sonoma Coast and much of the Russian River Valley had thus far had little or no impact
• DuMOL, Siduri, Littorai and Iron Horse had their fruit picked before the fires
• Paul Hobbs detected smoke in samples from all his unpicked vineyards, least in Alexander Valley, and lost four days of picking

In the Russian River Valley, excellent quality and great flavors were offsetting concerns about near normal or slightly below normal yields, and Duff Bevill of Bevill Vineyard Management had to pick some Zinfandel blocks earlier than expected because of the sustained heat. Dry Creek Valley growers were checking brix often and expected a slightly earlier harvest. Alexander Valley looked excellent for quality with an average yield. In Sonoma Valley the heat pushed all varieties to an earlier harvest, and quality at Serres Ranch was above average across the board. Initial indications in Chalk Hill were average to higher than average yields and excellent quality, with harvest expected to finish by early October.

• Russian River Valley: excellent quality, near normal or slightly below normal yields
• Dry Creek Valley: brix climbing fast, slightly earlier harvest expected
• Alexander Valley and Sonoma Valley: excellent or above average quality at average yields
• Chalk Hill: average to higher than average yields, finish expected by early October

The vintage was not being called in the fall of 2017. In November the quality of the vintage was still too early to call, and Lisa Perrotti-Brown of Wine Advocate urged consumers and the trade not to judge the Napa Valley and Sonoma County 2017 vintage until the wines had been tasted. Early winemaker reads were upbeat. Andy Smith of DuMOL told Wine Advocate, "At this early stage, I think 2017 is a very promising vintage, actually lower in alcohol than 2016, very good acidity and highly aromatic wines." David Ramey said his wines were already showing well in the barrel. Labor was the other storyline: there was a limited supply of workers, more growers were turning to mechanical harvesters, and Nick Goldschmidt said that reeling in enough harvest workers after the fires was one of the most wrenching parts of the year.

• November 2017: quality too early to call
• DuMOL's Andy Smith: lower in alcohol than 2016, very good acidity, highly aromatic
• Harvest labor supply was limited, and enough workers were hard to reel in after the fires