2006 Grape Harvest

Filed in archive Wine Making on February 3, 2007

According to the Wine Enthusiast web site, winemakers around the world have mixed results when it comes to harvesting for 2006. Those in the red (in a good way of course) include Italy, Oregon, Chile, Argentina, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. Find out who will win and who lost out for the final harvest count in this very interesting report. For example, here is a little of the report collected on New York and Chile:

After two rugged winters that sliced yields by as much as 50% in the Finger Lakes, New York vintners were hoping for better in '06. 'Twas not to be. Rain in summer and fall-and birds and deer "feasting on us," laments Charles Massoud of Paumonok Vineyards on Long Island-reduced yields by a third. Producers in both regions say Chardonnay and Riesling, harvested between the rains, will be good to excellent. The Finger Lakes escaped frost until the end of harvest in late October.
-Mort Hochstein

Chile's incredible 10-year run of the odd-numbered years outperforming the even-numbered ones continued in 2006. After a superb 2005 vintage, Chilean vintners, while not disappointed with 2006, are calling it an average to slightly above-average year. Francisco Baettig, head winemaker at Errazuriz, characterizes '06 as a "cool and dry" year, one that resulted in large crops. With respect to the white wines of the Casablanca Valley, veteran Concha y Toro winemaker Ignacio Recabarren said the relative coolness of the year combined with the region's natural marine climate resulted in good wines that are "at the same level of 2005." He noted, however, that Chile's 2006 reds will not be as "refined and elegant" as those from '05.
-M.S.