Textbook Perfect Grapes

Idaho’s grape growers and wine makers are thrilled to be finishing their harvest season. Many are celebrating the ideal temperatures and growing conditions that produced high quality grapes.

According to growers, grapes matured evenly and quickly because of early bud break and growing temperatures that rarely spiked above 100 degrees. This, combined with cooler fall temperatures, allowed the grapes to maintain acidity and slow sugar accumulation.

Coco Umiker, owner of Clearwater Canyon Cellars said: “This long, temperate finish to the 2016 growing season creates enhanced flavor development and we are expecting beautifully balanced wines from 2016. It will likely become one of the very best vintages we’ve ever had.”

Harvest began the week of Aug. 22 when growers started picking Chardonnay grapes. Late-ripening varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah weren’t harvested until October.

 “All the vineyards had a wonderfully warm spring and a textbook perfect growing season,” said Marguerite Janes, owner of Feathered Winds Wine in the Hagerman Valley. “It’s an early harvest year, which is good for grape growers because it can mitigate the risk of weather damage.”

The 2015 season had high quality grapes, but few of them because of difficult growing conditions. That year, overall tonnage decreased nearly 50 percent. But in 2016, the harvest yield has increased. The largest vineyard in the state, Skyline Vineyards, said they doubled production, while most others said there was roughly a 50 percent increase from previous years.

“This year’s harvest quality is looking great,” said Mike Williamson, owner of Williamson Orchards & Vineyards. “We are excited about the harvest because we have a greater amount of high quality grapes and will see a diverse mix of Idaho’s best varietals.”