2017 Washington State Vintage

The season is documented here through press reporting rather than a grower body vintage overview, and every step below carries the outlet that recorded it. A cool, wet winter followed by a cool spring put budbreak behind historical averages and significantly behind the recent warm vintages of 2013 through 2015. Bloom was also slightly delayed. Early summer brought average temperatures to the Columbia Valley, then July and August ran above average, and heat accumulation for the season ended up a bit above average despite the cool start. The wildfire picture arrived in July. Wildfire season started that month and lasted for months, burning hundreds of thousands of acres in Washington and Oregon and blanketing Seattle and Portland in smoke and ash, with flames coming within a few miles of some vineyards but inflicting no damage on them. Harvest began on schedule. What changed the finish was the second half of September, when temperatures cooled considerably, delaying ripening and extending hang time, and picking stretched into the first week of November. Northwest Wine Report's Sean P. Sullivan, writing in retrospect, summarized 2017 as relatively warm overall but with a very cool start and also a very cool finish. No tonnage or yield figure for the 2017 Washington crop was located in either source, so none is given here.

• Cool, wet winter and cool spring, with budbreak behind historical averages and well behind 2013 to 2015
• Bloom slightly delayed
• Average early summer in the Columbia Valley, then above-average July and August, leaving season heat accumulation a bit above average
• Wildfire season started in July 2017 and lasted months, with flames within a few miles of some vineyards but no vineyard damage
• Harvest began on schedule, then the second half of September cooled considerably and pushed picking into the first week of November
• No 2017 Washington tonnage figure was located in the sources consulted

Smoke was the season's open question rather than its verdict. Plumes lingered over vineyards in the Columbia Gorge AVA during veraison, the point at which grapes change color, prompting extra precautions there, and there were scattered reports of smoke taint in some areas. The Columbia Valley, Washington's largest growing region, dodged the worst of the smoke. There was no indication that smoke influenced the finished wines, despite vintner concern about the wildfires burning in central and eastern Washington through the summer.

• Smoke plumes lingered over Columbia Gorge AVA vineyards during veraison, prompting extra precautions
• Scattered reports of smoke taint in some areas
• The Columbia Valley, the largest growing region, dodged the worst of the smoke
• No reports that smoke influenced the finished wines, despite vintner concern during the season

Both outlets landed on the same structural read. Sugars were slightly down in 2017 while acid levels were up, and Wine Spectator found the wines combined the richness of fruit that Washington's warm summers deliver with heightened acidity compared to many recent years. Sean P. Sullivan of Northwest Wine Report, revisiting the vintage later, described the same combination of richness and heightened acidity, said the whites were among the best of his career covering Washington wine, and pointed to reds with notable aging potential, citing the 2017 reds from L'Ecole No. 41 as an example. Neither source consulted offered drinking windows or cellaring guidance, so none are given here.

• Sugars slightly down and acid levels up versus recent years
• Wine Spectator found richness of fruit from a warm summer alongside heightened acidity
• Northwest Wine Report's Sean P. Sullivan said the whites were among the best of his career covering Washington wine
• Sullivan pointed to reds with notable aging potential, citing L'Ecole No. 41's 2017 reds
• No drinking windows were offered by either source consulted