2024 Napa Valley Vintage

The vintage was made before the heat arrived. Heavy winter rain saturated soils and laid a foundation for healthy vegetative growth, and Matt Stornetta of Stornetta Made Farm and Vineyard Management put it plainly: the soil moisture that winter was pivotal. Pauline Lhote, winemaking director at Chandon, described plenty of moisture in the soil at the start of the growing season plus early rain during the season itself, which helped canopy growth. That canopy became the crop's own shade structure, and it needed to be. The 2024 season delivered 38 to 40 days above 100 degrees, a count winemakers described as unusual for the sheer number of hot days, and Stornetta set it against 2023, which had 8 to 10. Despite the heat, the winter-charged soils and the shade the vines had grown for themselves let them endure without excessive stress. Harvest started early and ran at a normal tempo. Sparkling-wine picking ran from early August to early September, with Chandon starting August 2 and finishing September 2; Lhote credited cold nights that August with preserving acidity and called it a good vintage for sparkling wines. Still-wine varieties began mid-August and wrapped up by mid-October. Most of the fruit came in at night, with early-morning delivery to the crush pads. Dante West of Amici Cellars called 2024 a classic vintage for Napa Valley and said it was nice to see what a lot of people would call normal after three very different vintages in a row in 2021, 2022 and 2023. By October 25, Rombauer Vineyards in St. Helena was on its last day of grape pressing. Yields varied by variety and site, with Pinot Noir and Chardonnay down 10 to 20 percent in some areas while Zinfandel and Cabernet Sauvignon came in average or slightly above.

• Heavy winter rain saturated soils and drove healthy vegetative growth, described as pivotal by Matt Stornetta
• The resulting natural shade canopy protected fruit through extended heat from June through harvest
• 38 to 40 days above 100 degrees, against 8 to 10 days in 2023
• Sparkling harvest ran early August to early September; Chandon picked August 2 to September 2 with cold August nights preserving acidity
• Still-wine varieties began mid-August and wrapped by mid-October, earlier than 2023 and more normal in timing
• Most picking happened at night with early-morning delivery to crush pads
• Pinot Noir and Chardonnay yields were down 10 to 20 percent in some areas; Zinfandel and Cabernet Sauvignon came in average or slightly above

For all the heat, the cellar reports from 2024 read calm. Richie Allen, director of winemaking at Rombauer Vineyards, said it was a vintage where you did not have to stress as a winemaker, and that he had only had a couple like it in Napa. On air in late October he put it more simply: a good harvest is when nothing goes wrong, and while it had been warm, nothing had gone wrong. Alison Rodriguez at Silverado Vineyards reported early, quick and easy fermentations with great density of flavors. Diana Snowden of Snowden Vineyards described high malic acids, high titratable acidities, low pHs and some of the highest sugars she had waited for, and called 2024 the most beautiful vintage she had ever taken part in. Napa Valley Vintners and Napa Valley Grapegrowers sources describe the year as dynamic and rich in flavor, blending boldness with elegance, and call it a textbook year for winemaking despite the heat.

• Richie Allen of Rombauer Vineyards described a vintage where a winemaker did not have to stress, and where nothing went wrong despite the warmth
• Alison Rodriguez of Silverado Vineyards reported early, quick and easy fermentations with great density of flavors
• Diana Snowden of Snowden Vineyards reported high malic acids, high titratable acidities, low pHs and some of the highest sugars she had waited for
• Napa Valley Vintners and Napa Valley Grapegrowers sources describe 2024 as dynamic and rich in flavor and a textbook year for winemaking