Vintage Weather
2015 across the wine world
Every region on record for 2015, read the same way: temperature, rain, harvest timing, and the events that shaped the season.
Northern hemisphere
Hot, dry June and July, a saving August rain, then a clean, unhurried harvest.
A hot, dry, early year gave a small crop of thick-skinned, deeply coloured reds.
Unprecedented heat and drought to mid-August, then picking from 29 August.
Wet spring, July heatwave and a dry summer gave a healthy, normal-sized crop.
A hot, dry year kept in balance by cool nights and well-timed late-summer rain.
A long, hot, dry season; ripe, powerful reds, with Gigondas a standout.
A hot, dry summer and a cool, golden October gave ripe Mosel Riesling with high acidity.
Snowy winter reserves carried the vines through a hot, dry July to a balanced harvest.
Hot July and August, cool nights and timely rain; five stars for Brunello.
A hot, dry Douro spring, a cool summer and well-timed September rain.
A warm, dry year gave Rioja its earliest harvest on record and a Muy Buena rating.
A warm dry year with an early start and a notably small crop.
Oregon's hottest year on record, picked early off a record crop.
A fourth drought year, rough flowering and a warm summer brought an early, small crop.
Washington's warmest vintage to that point, picked historically early and unevenly ripe.
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).
Heavy rain brought mildew and botrytis; sloping sites and early pickers fared better.
A wet spring cut crops in places, then a warm summer brought an early harvest.