Vintage Weather
1997 across the wine world
Every region on record for 1997, read the same way: temperature, rain, harvest timing, and the events that shaped the season.
Northern hemisphere
Early promise drowned by late-August rain, but Sauternes had a golden year.
Coulure cut the crop; a hot August made charming, succulent, lower-acid wines.
Frost and rot early on gave way to a hot summer and soft, generous wine.
A damp September rewarded patient growers who waited into October.
Catastrophic spring frost gave way to a glorious summer that rescued the vintage.
One of Piedmont's warmest, driest years produced opulent wines.
April frost cut yields; a warm, balanced season made an exceptional vintage.
Snow, an early bud burst, and late-August rain framed a balanced season.
A dry summer drove record yields but diluted quality in lower vineyards.
Near-perfect weather and big yields made the celebrated Vintage of the Century.
The wettest of three rain years, saved by aggressive thinning and early picks.
A warm, early season produced ripe, generous, fruit-forward wines.
A cool, wet September tested growers but still gave elegant, food-friendly reds.
Southern hemisphere
Southern hemisphere: the vintage year is the harvest year, so the growing season began in the previous calendar year (spring in September to October, harvest in February to April of the vintage year).
February heat cut yields; a cooler March and warm April rescued several regions.