Vintage Weather
Sonoma
Temperature
Cold → Hot
| Year | Temperature | Events | Read |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Cool | Harvest rain | A wet winter and cool summer gave fresh, lower-alcohol wines. |
| 2024 | Warm | A smooth, fast, rain-free harvest with outstanding quality across Sonoma. | |
| 2023 | Cold | Harvest rain | Record winter rain and the coolest spring in decades made elegant, bright-acid wines. |
| 2022 | Warm | Drought, Frost, Heat spike, Low yield | Drought, spring frost, and a Labor Day heat dome made an intensely concentrated year. |
| 2021 | Average | Drought, Low yield | A dry, drought-driven, fire-free season yielded a concentrated collector's vintage. |
| 2020 | Warm | Heat spike, Smoke, Low yield | Catastrophic wildfires and smoke taint cut the crop by a third in a producer's vintage. |
| 2019 | Cool | A wet winter and cool, extended season built freshness ahead of the Kincade Fire. | |
| 2018 | Cool | A long, cool, generous season made some of Sonoma's most balanced wines in decades. | |
| 2017 | Average | Heat spike, Smoke | Record rain and a Labor Day heat wave preceded fires, but most fruit was already in. |
| 2016 | Average | A cool 'Fogust' produced balanced, elegant, age-worthy wines across the board. | |
| 2015 | Warm | Drought, Heat spike, Low yield | A fourth drought year and a cold May flowering made an early, intense vintage. |
| 2014 | Average | Drought, Frost, Low yield | A second drought year with an April frost scare still made bright, concentrated wines. |
| 2013 | Warm | Drought, Low yield | California's driest year in 120 years produced deeply concentrated, structured wines. |
| 2012 | Average | A mild, even Goldilocks season delivered a generous, approachable bumper crop. | |
| 2011 | Cold | Mildew / rot, Botrytis, Harvest rain, Low yield | Sonoma's 'vintage of the long faces' still delivered pure, high-acid, elegant wines. |
| 2010 | Cool | Heat spike, Mildew / rot, Botrytis, Low yield, Harvest rain | A catastrophic August heat spike and mold pressure made an uneven, characterful year. |
| 2009 | Average | Harvest rain | Ideal even ripening was capped by a violent October storm that rewarded early pickers. |
| 2008 | Warm | Frost, Smoke, Low yield | A devastating March frost and summer wildfires still yielded structured wines. |
| 2007 | Average | Harvest rain | A dry, benign season with a late warm-up gave a long, flexible harvest. |
| 2006 | Average | Heat spike, Harvest rain, Mildew / rot, Botrytis | A cool wet spring, July heat spike, and October rains made a demanding year. |
| 2005 | Cool | Mildew / rot, Botrytis | A wet, cool, extended season produced elegant wines with finesse over power. |
| 2004 | Warm | Heat spike, Low yield | An early, warm season and August heat spike gave deeply concentrated reds. |
| 2003 | Average | Harvest rain, Mildew / rot | A roller-coaster season of cold spring, heat spikes, and a September storm. |
| 2002 | Cool | Frost | A cool, wet summer nearly stalled ripening before a September heatwave saved it. |
| 2001 | Cool | A cool, slow-ripening year produced wines of natural acidity and restraint. | |
| 1999 | Average | Heat spike, Low yield | A cool season with long hang time and low yields made concentrated wines. |
| 1998 | Cold | Mildew / rot, Botrytis, Low yield | A cold, wet El Nino year with mildew pressure made surprisingly age-worthy wines. |
| 1997 | Average | A warm, early season produced ripe, generous, fruit-forward wines. | |
| 1996 | Warm | Heat spike, Low yield | Spring berry shatter and summer heat spikes made a concentrated sleeper year. |
| 1995 | Warm | Hail | Winter floods and a June hailstorm gave way to a rescuing Indian Summer. |