Vintage Weather
2020 across the wine world
Every region on record for 2020, read the same way: temperature, rain, harvest timing, and the events that shaped the season.
Northern hemisphere
A wet spring, 54 days of summer drought and an early harvest cut the crop.
A mild winter and hot, dry summer brought a record-early harvest of ripe, fresh grapes.
Record drought and the earliest harvest ever, with yields capped at 8,000 kg/ha.
Early, sunny and dry, with a drought scare, healthy fruit and uneven, lower yields.
A very dry, early year with short yields and more freshness than the heat suggested.
Supple, balanced southern reds, though harvest volumes varied greatly across the south.
A third dry year brought an early, healthy Mosel harvest seen as a Kabinett year.
A very warm year without heat spikes; wet spring and October rain shaped Barolo.
Cool spring, cold budbreak, a long, warm summer and a smaller crop.
Record July heat and a rainless early summer gave an early, very small Douro harvest.
A rainy spring and local mildew, then a balanced finish that earned Muy Buena.
Two wildfires and widespread smoke cut the 2020 red crop sharply.
Labor Day wildfire smoke reshaped what was already a small, high-quality crop.
Near-perfect until a mid-August lightning storm; whites got in early, reds bore the smoke.
September smoke paused harvest on a small crop that still showed balance.
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).
Heat, half the usual rain and spring frost and hail gave a small, early Mendoza crop.