2018 Sonoma Vintage

Despite a warm February, the 2018 growing season started off cooler than the past few vintages. Alexander Valley had a two-week cold snap, with frost fans blowing for two weeks straight, and Stonestreet even saw some snow in its higher-elevation vineyards. A cool spring meant bloom lasted longer than usual, but fruit set was consistent. Summer temperatures were moderate with fewer heat spikes than in recent years, and veraison started later. A cooling period in late July put the brakes on and spared La Crema the late-summer heat spikes that drove an early, compressed harvest in the two previous vintages. At Gloria Ferrer in the Sonoma Valley, the growing season featured a mild winter, timely spring rains and summer heat without any wild temperature swings. Harvest started two to three weeks later than in recent years, which some winemakers called historically more typical, and wet weather in early October was followed by dry spells and moderate heat. Yields varied by site, variety and clone, but overall appeared average or slightly higher.

• Cool start: cooler than the past few vintages despite a warm February, with a two-week cold snap and frost fans running in Alexander Valley
• Long bloom and consistent fruit set, then a moderate summer with fewer heat spikes than in recent years and a cooling period in late July
• Harvest two to three weeks later than in recent years, which some winemakers called historically more typical; wet weather in early October, then dry spells and moderate heat
• Yields average or slightly higher overall; La Crema's Craig McAllister found Pinot Noir yields up across the board, with crops reminiscent in size of 2012 and 2013

Harvest kicked off in the cool, pre-dawn darkness of Wednesday, August 15, 2018, in Sonoma and Napa counties. Crews started around 2 a.m. at the Kiser Vineyard just south of Sonoma, picking a 5-acre parcel of Pinot Noir that was pressed at Gloria Ferrer Caves and Vineyards for sparkling wine. Across Wine Country, not Sonoma alone, the 2018 vintage took longer to ripen than other recent crops but was expected to be equally bountiful. The Kiser yield was on the normal side, with picking later than the last few years, which had run early. Crush was expected to run through the end of October, when the last red varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot are picked.

• August 15, 2018: first picks in Sonoma and Napa counties, starting with Pinot Noir for sparkling wine at the Kiser Vineyard south of Sonoma
• Kiser Vineyard: yields on the normal side, harvest later than the last few years
• Gloria Ferrer: Chardonnay yield about normal and the Pinot Noir crop above average; winemaker Steve Urberg: "We didn't have any difficulties with weather or mildew or heat spikes."
• Iron Horse Vineyards in Sebastopol: yields from the estate block picked that day were 20 percent larger than the year before

How good the vintage is will only be clear once the finished wines are tasted. Winemakers reported that the long growing season was giving wines with structure and concentration without being overripe. Paul Hobbs called 2018 'the most benign growing season in over 40 years' and an exceptional vintage. Near-perfect fruit set in spring led to large clusters and a large potential crop, and thinning took up to four full passes against a typical two. Healdsburg vintner David Ramey summed up the harvest: "Honestly, [it was] the easiest harvest ever." At Kistler Vineyards in Sebastopol, the mild weather allowed excellent development of flavors and retention of great natural acidity, and picking calls for both Chardonnay and Pinot Noir waited almost solely on pH.

• Hartford winemaker Jeff Stewart found good fruit intensity in Russian River Chardonnay, more acid drive and finesse in Sonoma Coast Chardonnay, and fruit-driven Pinot Noir and Zinfandel with a very good sense of place
• Stonestreet's Lisa Valtenbergs: "The Chardonnays really stand out to me."
• At J Vineyards & Winery, the vintage required patience from growers and vintners alike, since development and flavor maturation took extra time
• Kistler's Jason Kesner: "[2018] has a lot of potential for greatness"