2018 Napa Valley Vintage

February 2018 was wet, and endless days of sunshine followed. The growing season began in late February, spring was mild, and extended flowering produced uniform clusters, with a very even bloom followed by rapid veraison. Temperatures remained steady and warm throughout the growing season without any significant heat spikes, and the ripening period through early fall was void of extreme heat, allowing extended hang time and phenolic maturity. Domaine Carneros winemaker T.J. Evans put 2018 as cooler than 2011, which many regard as the coolest vintage of the past decade. The season still had internal swings. Larkmead Vineyards recorded the first 20 days of August as the hottest on record there and the last 11 days as the coolest, and September stayed cool until the 8th, when a warming spell came over the valley and coincided with the start of red harvest at Larkmead. Picking opened in mid-August, about a week later than 2017, with Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier for sparkling wine, and other whites and still-wine grapes followed in late August. Rain fell on October 2 and 3, the only mildly concerning hiccup of the season. By early October the majority of red varieties were ripening and beginning to come in. The finish stretched out. Winemaker Jeff Ames finished picking on October 29, two to three weeks later than normal, and for other winemakers picking did not wrap up until the first week of November. Chateau Montelena estimated it had picked 95 percent of its tonnage, Trefethen had started in late August with Pinot Noir and Chardonnay and was wrapping up, Honig expected to finish Cabernet toward the end of the following week while waiting for botrytis on its Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc before the middle of December, and a few late Diamond Mountain vineyards, along with Spring Mountain Vineyard, York Creek, Pride Mountain Vineyards and Sherwin Family Vineyards, were to pick up to or slightly into November.

• Abundant February rain, then endless days of sunshine and a mild spring
• Very even bloom producing uniform clusters, followed by rapid veraison
• Steady, warm temperatures with no significant heat spikes; the ripening period through early fall was void of extreme heat
• Larkmead recorded its hottest-ever first 20 days of August and its coolest last 11 days of the month
• Rain on October 2 and 3 was the season's only mildly concerning hiccup
• Harvest opened mid-August for sparkling wine; Jeff Ames finished October 29, two to three weeks later than normal, and picking did not wrap up until the first week of November for other winemakers

The other story of 2018 was volume. Several Napa Valley Vintners members reported strong yields, and winemakers reported yields much closer to normal averages than the drought-reduced vintages before. The usual Cabernet cluster weight is around 0.25 pounds per cluster; at the sites Daniel Ricciato oversees for winemaker Thomas Rivers Brown, 2018 clusters ran around 0.5 to 0.6 pounds, and despite aggressive thinning some crop loads were still upwards of 40 percent above average. Yields were high elsewhere too. Volker Eisele Family Estate had higher than average yields, yields were high across the board at Hyde Vineyards, and Farella Vineyards put its crop about 25 percent over normal. On Atlas Peak, hit hard by the previous year's wildfires, yields were up almost 20 percent on average, and Gordon Waggoner of Acumen Wines called it a "Phoenix-like vintage."

• Yields came much closer to normal averages than the drought-reduced vintages before
• Cabernet cluster weights ran around 0.5 to 0.6 pounds against a typical average near 0.25 pounds, with some crop loads up to 40 percent above average despite aggressive thinning
• Volker Eisele Family Estate and Hyde Vineyards had high yields, and Farella Vineyards put its crop about 25 percent over normal
• Atlas Peak yields were up almost 20 percent on average after the 2017 fires, a "Phoenix-like vintage" in Gordon Waggoner's words

2018 brought more fires to California, including deadly blazes in Butte County to the north and Ventura to the south, but Napa was largely spared.

• California saw more fires in 2018, including in Butte County and Ventura, but Napa was largely spared