2020 Willamette Valley / Oregon Vintage

A mild, dry winter in 2019-20 gave way to a dry growing season, continuing drought concerns for Oregon and most of the western United States. Spring was relatively cool across Oregon, with some frost but nothing severe in most regions, and it swung widely between early-season heat and cool, wet conditions leading up to and during flowering. Many growers called it the worst possible weather during bloom. Fruit set suffered widely, with high amounts of shatter and smaller berries and clusters. At Bethel Heights in the Eola-Amity Hills, Ted Casteel likened the vintage to the 1980s: “Berries were small, lots of hens and chicks,” with yield down 50 percent. At Domaine Divio, neighbor to Brick House on Ribbon Ridge, fruit set was down 30 percent. Summer heat stress was moderate, and September looked decent weather-wise until the Labor Day wind event. Phenological timing ran close to average in northern Oregon. Disease pressure was generally low and pest pressure relatively low, with bird pressure greatest at higher elevations and for late-picked varieties. April to October temperatures in the western United States were the third warmest in the 126-year record, 2.6°F above the long-term average. Oregon had its fourth warmest growing-season temperatures on record, ranging from 0.2°F above average at Milton-Freewater to 1.9°F above at McMinnville, where growing degree days finished 3 percent above the 15-year average and 6 percent above 2019. The main statewide picking window ran from roughly September 10 to October 15. Grape production, measured in tons harvested, fell 29 percent statewide and tons crushed fell 23.1 percent, and many Willamette Valley growers saw yields down 10 to 50 percent on most varieties, especially Pinot Noir.

• Mild, dry winter and dry growing season; spring relatively cool, with frost not severe in most regions
• Cool, wet weather at bloom brought widespread shatter and smaller berries and clusters
• Moderate summer heat stress, low disease and relatively low pest pressure; timing close to average in northern Oregon
• McMinnville growing degree days finished 3 percent above the 15-year average and 6 percent above 2019
• Main statewide picking window roughly September 10 to October 15
• Many Willamette Valley growers saw yields down 10 to 50 percent on most varieties; statewide tons harvested down 29 percent

The Beachie Creek and Lionshead fires began on August 16, and up and down the western United States fires had been smoldering since a lightning event in mid-August. A very large high-pressure area stretching from the desert Southwest to Alaska pushed the jet stream into northern Canada and set up an extreme east wind event. By September 7, strong winds of 30 to 60 miles per hour from the east moved over mountainous areas, warming, drying and increasing in speed. Dew points dropped as much as 30 degrees in an hour and relative humidity fell to 8 to 15 percent, desert-like conditions even at the coast. The event was extremely rare, with only a handful of similar events in the data record. Woody fuels west of the Cascades burned quickly, the smoldering fires exploded, and new fires erupted from toppled trees and power lines. On September 8 the Beachie Creek and Lionshead fires merged. The Lionshead Fire, a roughly 200,000-acre conflagration in the Santiam and Breitenbush regions, spread across Clackamas, Linn and Marion counties. The same wind conditions sparked the Holiday Farm Fire, about 175,000 acres, which burned through communities on the McKenzie River. In southern Oregon, the Almeda Drive fire was human-caused, and the South Obenchain fire added pollution to the already smoke-prone Rogue Valley and haze over Umpqua Valley vineyards. Across Oregon, wildfires killed 11 people, burned more than one million acres and destroyed several thousand homes.

• Beachie Creek and Lionshead began on August 16 and merged on September 8
• September 7 east winds of 30 to 60 miles per hour, dew points down as much as 30 degrees in an hour, relative humidity of 8 to 15 percent
• The Lionshead Fire, roughly 200,000 acres, spread across Clackamas, Linn and Marion counties
• Oregon wildfires killed 11 people and burned more than one million acres

Smoke from the fires blanketed wine areas throughout the North Willamette Valley for more than ten days. For one survey respondent it was “dusk for ten days,” with the temperature dropping 20 degrees. One South Willamette Valley grower saw as much as a quarter inch of ash accumulate on the vineyard by the time the smoke began to clear in mid-September. Exposure was not uniform: the smoky east side of the Eola-Amity Hills had dramatically different conditions from mostly clear skies on the west. An estimated 609 of 808 North Willamette Valley vineyards (75 percent) experienced fire or smoke impacts, against 82 percent in the South Willamette Valley, 44 percent in the Umpqua Valley, 29 percent in the Rogue Valley and 20 percent along the Columbia River.

• Smoke blanketed North Willamette Valley wine areas for more than 10 days
• As much as a quarter inch of ash accumulated in one South Willamette Valley vineyard
• The smoky east side of the Eola-Amity Hills contrasted with mostly clear skies on the west
• 609 of 808 North Willamette Valley vineyards (75 percent) experienced fire or smoke impacts; South Willamette Valley 82 percent

Smoke compounds concentrate in grape skins, so much of the response centered on minimizing skin contact. Winemakers put their energies into whites, including white Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, sparkling, Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc, Gewurztraminer and Riesling, and rosés, styles with less exposure to smoke-affected skins. Oregon producers followed techniques from regions such as Australia, where producers have dealt with fires near vineyards and smoke-affected grapes since the 1980s, along with New Zealand, California and Washington. Twelve percent of survey respondents were testing smoke-mitigation methods. Drawing on lessons from colleagues in Napa Valley, producers applied chemical and physical measures, including chemically mitigating smoke-associated phenols, handpicking and washing grapes to minimize ash entering fermentation, and lighter pressing. Among wineries that were impacted, the most common refrain was a near-complete loss of the 2020 red wine vintage, if not a severe downgrading of the label's quality. Eighteen percent of the wineries estimated to be impacted detected the taste of ash in their 2020 vintage. About 6.5 percent of buyers rejected or renegotiated contracts at severely reduced prices, and cancelled contracts affected 3.6 percent of vineyard respondents and 6.8 percent of winery respondents. Many Willamette Valley wineries sold off wine in bulk, declassified wines, made white Pinot Noir and, in the worst cases, made no wine at all. Adam Campbell, second-generation owner and winemaker at Elk Cove Vineyards, judged that “the total production was probably cut in half across the valley.”

• Producers turned to whites, white Pinot Noir, sparkling and rosé, styles with less skin contact
• 12 percent of survey respondents were testing smoke-mitigation methods; measures included handpicking, washing grapes and lighter pressing
• 18 percent of impacted Oregon wineries detected the taste of ash in the 2020 vintage
• Many Willamette Valley wineries sold wine in bulk, declassified wines or made no wine at all

The smaller clusters and berries gave great color, concentrated flavors, desired sugar levels and good acidity. Doug Tunnell at Brick House on Ribbon Ridge called the fruit “outstanding” and said that “without the smoke, this would have been a truly memorable vintage; yielding small volumes of highly concentrated, extracted wines with superior depth and balanced acidity.” David Beck of Crawford-Beck Vineyard in the Eola-Amity Hills put it this way: “All in all, without smoke effects, this could have been a spectacular vintage.” Ted Casteel called 2020 “a very short vintage, like 83, 88, 89,” adding that such vintages generally lead to high quality wines and that the wines tasted and smelled great coming out of the fermenter. The Oregon Wine Board's harvest report, compiled by Gregory V. Jones of Linfield University's Evenstad Center for Wine Education and adapted on January 8, 2021, judged it still too early to predict the overall impact of smoke and wildfires on the vintage, while expressing confidence in beautiful wines that would earn the excellent reputation Oregon wines are known for. Smoke characteristics in the wines were highly variable and site-specific, and some damage was not known until later, as the wines aged in bottle. In October 2025 PacifiCorp agreed to pay $125 million in a settlement with Oregon wine companies and vineyards over damage from the 2020 Labor Day wildfires, allowing 93 wineries to recoup some losses from their 2020 vintage; plaintiffs included Willamette Valley Vineyards and King Estate.

• Small berries and clusters gave great color, concentrated flavors and good acidity
• Brick House's Doug Tunnell called the fruit “outstanding”
• Smoke characteristics varied by site, and some damage only showed as wines aged in bottle
• PacifiCorp agreed to a $125 million settlement in October 2025, letting 93 wineries recoup some 2020 losses