2020 Napa Valley Vintage

The year started dry. Winter was warm, and rain and cold weather did not arrive until the end of March. The mild spring that followed gave the vines a great early start. Conditions diverged sharply by appellation from there. In the Stags Leap District, Elizabeth Vianna of Chimney Rock reported lower than average winter rains and a mild but inconsequential frost season, with some shatter from uneven weather at bloom pointing to a smaller crop than the prior two vintages. In Carneros, Christopher Hyde of Hyde Vineyards recorded the coldest and longest frost since 2008, perhaps worse, alongside drought conditions that left dry soils and struggling vines with decreased yields, plus rain during Chardonnay and Pinot Noir bloom that left small and sometimes heat-dried berries. Summer brought very cool mornings and very warm days. On the valley floor at Yountville, Kapcsandy Family Winery tracked the swings: low 90s on May 7 and 8, a 20-degree drop the following week, then record highs on May 25, 26 and 27, before a cooler July let the vines coast through veraison. On Mount Veeder, Hess Collection reported extreme hot weather promoting veraison, and in Coombsville, Farella Vineyard described a blistering heat wave coupled with tropical weather. White-wine harvest started in early August, with the fruit showing excellent development in the cellars. Trefethen in the Oak Knoll District picked its first Chardonnay and Pinot Noir for sparkling wine during the first week of August, and Mumm Napa and Schramsberg began picking in the week of August 24 to 28. Honig started Sauvignon Blanc from Gordon Valley on the morning of August 17, the same morning the Hennessey Fire broke out. By the report filed around August 28, Howell Mountain fruit was still weeks away with most Cabernet just finished with veraison, and Oakville red-grape harvest was weeks off as well. That gap between the first fire and the red harvest is the whole story of 2020.

• A warm, dry winter with rain and cold arriving only at the end of March, then a mild spring that gave vines a great early start
• Carneros recorded the coldest and longest frost since 2008 plus drought-stressed soils and decreased yields; the Stags Leap District had a mild, inconsequential frost season with some shatter at bloom
• Very cool mornings and very warm days through summer, with record highs May 25 to 27 recorded at Yountville and a cooler July easing vines through veraison
• White harvest opened in early August with excellent development in the cellars; sparkling picks ran from the first week of August into late August
• Honig began picking Sauvignon Blanc on August 17, the same morning the Hennessey Fire broke out
• Most Cabernet Sauvignon had only just finished veraison in late August, leaving the red crop hanging through the fire season

The LNU Complex Fire, including the Hennessey Fire, started on August 17, 2020, sparked by lightning strikes during a statewide heat wave as crews scrambled to contain dozens of blazes across the region. Public Safety Power Shutoffs and mandatory evacuations followed, with Howell Mountain under evacuation from August 19, cutting off vineyard access during the fire period. Six weeks later, in the early hours of September 27, the Glass Fire ignited in the Deer Park area near St. Helena, burning wineries and vineyards and putting the rest of the vintage in doubt. Fewer than 20 wineries suffered significant damage, per the Wine Institute, though many homes were destroyed and thousands of people evacuated. Kirk Venge of Venge Vineyards in Calistoga described the second fire's smoke as oily and almost resinous, distinct from the earlier fires, whose smoke he called not as pervasive. All of this ran on top of a harvest already operating under extensive COVID-19 safety protocols. Thomas Rivers Brown reached for the valley's phylloxera outbreak of the 1990s as the only comparable disruption, with the difference that phylloxera's production loss spread across a decade while 2020's landed in a single year.

• LNU Complex Fire, including the Hennessey Fire, started August 17, 2020 from lightning during a statewide heat wave
• Power shutoffs and evacuations, including Howell Mountain from August 19, cut off vineyard access
• The Glass Fire ignited near Deer Park outside St. Helena in the early hours of September 27
• Fewer than 20 wineries suffered significant damage per the Wine Institute, though many homes were lost
• Kirk Venge of Venge Vineyards described the Glass Fire smoke as oily and almost resinous, unlike the earlier, less pervasive smoke
• Harvest also ran under extensive COVID-19 safety protocols

The testing story of 2020 is a story about time. Silverado Farming Company, which manages around 800 acres for Philippe Melka and dozens of other Cabernet-focused wineries, tested on August 23 and 24, right after the first fire, and 98 percent of samples came back without smoke issues. The grapes then sat in smoke for another two weeks, and then the Glass Fire arrived. Silverado typically harvests 3,500 tons a year; in 2020 about 1,300 tons went unpicked. Melka, consulting for 25 clients across Napa and Sonoma, estimated 35 to 38 percent of the Napa crop he surveyed had been harvested by early October but believed only a portion would ever be bottled, putting the likely declassification at possibly 70 percent. Thomas Rivers Brown put the share that would get bottled at perhaps 20 percent of the crop, and The Wine Independent separately estimates 2020 Napa red production finished around 20 percent or less of an average vintage. Melka's summary of the geography was blunt: pretty much all of the appellations were affected, even Carneros, though a little less. Turley's Howell Mountain estate vineyards tested positive and the winery dropped 100 tons there. St. Supery determined it could not harvest its 500-acre Dollarhide Vineyard in Pope Valley because of smoke proximity, though it had started Sauvignon Blanc just before the fires. ETS Laboratories in St. Helena ran 24 hours a day, seven days a week on harvest samples, with president Gordon Burns reporting turnaround times approaching normal only by late October. Money moved to match. Some vineyards agreed to a sliding pay scale for smoke-affected fruit, and per Pete Richmond of Silverado Farming, wineries in some cases paid growers roughly 1,500 dollars per ton to leave grapes unpicked.

• Silverado Farming's August 23 and 24 tests showed 98 percent of samples clean, but the fruit then sat in smoke for two more weeks before the Glass Fire
• About 1,300 of Silverado Farming's typical 3,500 tons went unpicked
• Melka estimated 35 to 38 percent of the crop he surveyed was picked and put likely declassification at possibly 70 percent
• Thomas Rivers Brown estimated perhaps 20 percent of the crop would be bottled; The Wine Independent puts 2020 Napa red production at around 20 percent or less of average
• Turley dropped 100 tons on Howell Mountain after positive tests; St. Supery could not harvest its 500-acre Dollarhide Vineyard in Pope Valley
• ETS Laboratories ran around the clock on smoke samples, with turnaround approaching normal only by late October
• Some growers were paid roughly 1,500 dollars per ton to leave fruit unpicked, and some accepted a sliding scale for smoke-affected fruit

The vintage was smaller, not absent. Napa Valley Vintners president and CEO Linda Reiff said on October 27, 2020 that 80 percent of members were still moving forward with the vintage, and called 2020 not lost even though volume would be well below normal. Red-wine harvest was smaller than usual, but most wineries were still able to move forward with red-wine vinification. The clearest survivors were the estates that finished early. Cathy Corison of Corison Winery in St. Helena had her grapes in by September 15, before the Glass Fire, and reported by October 22 that everything looked lovely with all lots through fermentation and into barrel. Spottswoode tested every lot and had not detected smoke taint from the August fires as of late October; its harvest finished a day before the Glass Fire started. The Wine Independent describes 2020 as similar to 2017, down to the Labor Day heat wave and the fires, but judges the finished 2020 reds it has tasted, from Dalla Valle, Spottswoode and Eisele Vineyard, as showing more purity and delineation than the 2017s, with slightly more weight and alcohol and riper tannins.

• Linda Reiff of Napa Valley Vintners reported on October 27, 2020 that 80 percent of members were moving forward with the vintage
• Red harvest was smaller than usual, but most wineries were still able to proceed with red-wine vinification
• Corison Winery had its fruit in by September 15 and all lots into barrel by October 22
• Spottswoode tested every lot, detected no smoke taint from the August fires, and finished harvest a day before the Glass Fire began
• The Wine Independent finds the finished 2020 reds it has tasted show more purity and delineation than the 2017s, with slightly more weight, alcohol and riper tannins