2024 Willamette Valley / Oregon Vintage

The year opened with a severe January freeze to minus 4 degrees F that decimated primary buds at lower elevations. The Willamette Valley then saw heavy precipitation in the winter and spring. Ben Casteel of Bethel Heights summed up 2024 as “warm and wet at all the wrong times, with lots of disease pressure,” and August rain later led to humidity-induced disease pressure. At Archery Summit in the Dundee Hills, bud break came April 15 against a 20-year average of April 11. Temperatures cooled shortly after bud break, a storm at the beginning of May dropped substantial precipitation, and temperatures then warmed into the 80s. Growth was explosive, and the high humidity was a challenge to mitigate. Bloom at Archery Summit landed June 14 against a 20-year average of June 13, and across Oregon every stage of phenology came in on average or within 1 to 4 days of it in all regions. Rain fell right in the middle of bloom: one grower was “stunned by the potential yield” until that rain brought it down to something near perfect. July was extremely warm, with a severe mid-month heat spike that pushed temperatures past 100 degrees F, and in the Rocks District of Milton-Freewater one grower recorded 10 days over 100 degrees F and a peak of 109. A dramatic temperature drop in August slowed ripening, with daytime temperatures between 70 and 80 degrees F and nights in the 50s. Late-summer rain, which one winemaker called “really rare” for August, bolstered soil moisture reserves just in time to buffer the vines against another heat spike in September. Veraison at Archery Summit came August 16 against a 20-year average of August 17. September was a roller coaster, with record-breaking heat early and late in the month sandwiching a very cool period. A brief spike of a few days reaching 100 degrees F gave grape sugars only a slight boost, and mid-September cooling brought nighttime temperatures into the 50s and daytime peaks around 70 degrees F. After the September heat spike, nearly perfect weather extended the growing season. At Elk Cove, apart from some early sparkling picks, all fruit came in over 40 days, with the first Pinot Noir picked the second week of September. Jim Maresh of Arterberry Maresh let his fruit hang and harvested in the last week of October, under what he called “perfect hangtime conditions,” a high of 70 degrees F with clear blue skies. The season's series of climate events limited yields and created uneven berry sizes, and statewide, yields came in average or down in regions that saw heat stress in July or sunburn in September.

• January freeze to minus 4 degrees F decimated primary buds at lower elevations
• Heavy winter and spring precipitation, a substantial early May storm, then warming into the 80s and explosive growth
• Archery Summit phenology: bud break April 15 (20-year average April 11), bloom June 14 (June 13), veraison August 16 (August 17)
• Rain in the middle of bloom brought one grower's potential yield, which had looked like too much, down to near perfect
• Severe mid-July heat spike past 100 degrees F
• Dramatic August cooldown to 70s days and 50s nights, with late-summer rain bolstering soil moisture
• Record-breaking heat early and late in September around a very cool middle
• At Elk Cove, all fruit apart from early sparkling picks came in over 40 days, with the first Pinot Noir the second week of September

Vinous called 2024 one of the strongest vintages of the last decade, while stating that it was neither perfect nor easy. The season ran through a January freeze, July heat and August rain with its disease pressure before nearly perfect weather after the September heat spike extended it. Vinous describes the vintage as cool-toned and neoclassical, with high acidity, bright, lifted fruit and expressive floral aromatics. Vinous also found aggressive tannins in some wines and thick skins and uneven maturity in many clusters, and judged that the region's best producers made some of the most exciting wines in years while many others made wines that don't particularly stand out. Wine Spectator's Oregon vintage chart rates 2024 at 92 to 95 points and calls it a warm year that yielded crowd-pleasing Pinot Noirs with good structure, as long as growers picked before things got too ripe. Wine Industry Advisor's harvest coverage described a season of slow and steady ripening and ideal temperatures, and promised vibrant fruit, low alcohol and exceptional acidity. Vinous places 2024 alongside the slightly warmer 2008 and 2012 growing seasons, and says it was not an inherently cold year like 2010 or 2011. Wine Spectator's top-scoring wines from the vintage were Domaine Drouhin's Pinot Noir Dundee Hills Édition Limitée and two Bergström Pinot Noirs, from the Bergström Vineyard and the La Spirale Vineyard.

• Vinous: one of the strongest vintages of the last decade, but neither perfect nor easy
• Vinous: cool-toned and neoclassical, with high acidity, bright, lifted fruit and floral aromatics
• Vinous flags aggressive tannins in some wines, and thick skins and uneven maturity in many clusters
• Wine Spectator rates the vintage 92 to 95 and calls it a warm year with good structure, as long as growers picked before things got too ripe
• Vinous places 2024 alongside the slightly warmer 2008 and 2012 seasons, not the cold 2010 and 2011